Iraqi Ambassador to the United States Lukman Faily sought to downplay Iran's involvement in the assault on Islamic State (ISIS) forces in Tikrit in an interview on Fox News on Wednesday.
Critics in the United States have said Iraq caught the U.S. military by surprise, just as U.S. and Iraqi forces were planning an attack on ISIS in Mosul. The action also comes amid tense nuclear negotiations between the United States and Iran.
Appearing on Fox News Channel's
"On the Record with Greta Van Susteren," Faily said the United States' role is not being diminished.
"We have three Iraqi divisions with less than 100 Iranian advisers," Faily said. "Less than 100. So it's not led by Iranian generals."
Three divisions of the Iraqi army are involved in the fight, as are about 2,000 Iraqi tribal men from inside Tikrit Province, he said.
"So this is purely Iraqis led by Iraqis," Faily said.
They are receiving support from the Iranians, "but we need them," he said.
In the past 12 years Iraqis, Americans and Iranians all have worked for the unity of Iraq, Faily told Van Susteren.
"So we can see a lot of commonality in relation to the image of the country," he said. "That's the key issue now."
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