Iran and the Islamic State

In Syria Since the start of the Syrian Civil War in 2011, Iran supported Assad's Syrian Arab Republic against its opponents, including ISIS. In Iraq Iran was the first country to pledge assistance to Iraq to fight ISIS, deploying troops in early June 2014 following the North Iraq offensive. President of Iraq Fuad Masum has praised Iran as "the first country to provide weapons to Iraq to fight against the ISIS Takfiri terrorists". Iran's Quds Force is a "key player" in the military intervention against ISIS, and its "mastermind" commander, Major General Qasem Soleimani, maintained a frequent presence in Iraq while his pictures on the battlefield were regularly published. Iran–Iraq border On 14 March 2016, two ISIS cells equipped with explosive devices were eliminated near the border by the Ground Forces of Islamic Republic of Iran Army. == Iran's political stance ==

Foreign Affairs Minister of Iran Javad Zarif has described ISIS as an "ideological sibling" to Al-Qaeda, adding "the so-called Islamic State is neither Islamic nor a state". Supreme Leader of Iran Ali Khamenei has openly commented on the American-led intervention in Iraq and the Combined Joint Task Force: Designation as "terrorist" Iranian official and semi-official media outlets such as state-run Iran Daily, and IRGC-tied news agencies Fars and Tasnim frequently call ISIS a "terrorist organization" and "Takfiri". The deputy secretary of the Supreme National Security Council has also called it a "terrorist group". Condemnation of harms to others The Iranian Foreign Ministry issued a condemnation of the Islamic State-inspired 2025 Bondi Beach shooting, with spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei writing on X that "Terror and killing of human beings, wherever committed, is rejected and condemned". == ISIS attacks and threats to Iran ==

While Iran is a Shia-dominant country, ISIS is ideologically anti-Shia and regards Shias as infidels, having killed thousands of them. After rapidly expanding in Iraq, ISIS became a threat only kilometers away from Iran's western borders. With the Pakistan-based Sunni Jihadist groups in eastern Iran and an ongoing Sistan and Baluchestan insurgency, some are alarmed by the possibility of a wider backlash there. Iran threatened ISIS that managing to attack Baghdad or the holy shrines of Shia Imams and getting close to the Iran-Iraq border is "over the red lines" and if they are crossed, Iran will engage in direct action. In September 2014, an Iranian paper, Islamic Republican, quoted Hadana news reporting "ISIS designated Emir for Iran and several of his aides were arrested by security bodies". The report did not name the Emir, and did not say if they had been able to sneak into Iran or arrested abroad. Neither did it mention which country's security bodies had made the arrest. In the same month, Minister of Interior Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli announced Iran had arrested several suspected members of ISIS trying to enter Iran. He said that two or three of them have confessed "entering Iran has been among the plans of the ISIS" and dismissed the reports on the ISIS move to recruit members inside Iran, despite noting "this does not mean that the group has not launched a publicity campaign for recruitment". On 7 June 2017, ISIS claimed responsibility for an attack on the Iranian Parliament and the mausoleum of Ayatollah Khomeini. The attack was confirmed to have left 16 dead and was the first instance of an ISIS attack within Iran's borders. There are worries about the implications of this attack on President Hassan Rouhani's "moderation project". Ahvaz military parade attack happened on 22 September 2018. A military parade was attacked by armed gunmen in the southwestern Iranian city of Ahvaz. The shooters killed 25 people, including soldiers of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and civilian bystanders. On 3 January 2024, ISIS claimed responsibility for the Kerman bombings incident that killed nearly 100 Iranian civilians at Qasem Soleimani's burial site. == Iranian citizens and ISIS ==

Tehran Bureau reports popular support for Iran's military action against ISIS. According to Al Jazeera, by January 2015, "hundreds" of Iranian Kurds from Iranian Kurdistan crossed the Iran-Iraq border to fight ISIS, mostly joining Iraqi Kurdistan fighters also known as Peshmerga. Several research works and polls conducted by a security body in Iran have shown that Iran's Sunni community "are not interested in membership in the ISIS". == Axis of Resistance ==

The "Axis of Resistance" is a Western exonym for a set of militant, insurgent and militia factions, groups, and organizations in nearby Middle Eastern States allegedly affiliated with, allied to, or aligned with Iran. Some of these have come into conflict with ISIS-affiliates or sympathizers. Israel, an opponent of Iran, has also armed opposing proxies, some of which have alleged links to ISIS. 2025 In June 2025, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel was arming the Popular Forces, a Rafah-based group led by Yasser Abu Shabab, during the Gaza war. The Popular Forces have been linked to IS; some of its prominent figures have been identified as former IS militants who fought in the Sinai insurgency. Abu Shabab has denied any collaboration with Israel or connections to IS. The researcher and analyst Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi disputed claims that the Popular Forces are affiliated with IS; he argued that their use of the Palestinian flag in their logo and uniforms would be unacceptable to IS even as a disguise, and that collaboration with Israel constitutes apostasy from Islam from IS's perspective. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has reluctantly admitted to arming anti-Hamas factions in the Gaza Strip. Allegations were raised by Avigdor Lieberman and Netanyahu's response was to say, "Israel is working to defeat Hamas in various ways". Some took this as confirmation of the story. The move was criticised because previously, Netanyahu supported an anti-PLO group, Hamas, which eventually allied with factions of the PLO against Israel during the second intifada. A high-ranking senior commander, Issam Nabahin, was formerly a member of the Islamic State's Sinai Province. Nabahin was sentenced to death by Hamas in 2023 for independently firing rockets at Israel, before his escape during the Gaza War. Nabahin was captured again by Hamas in 2025, but escaped again after an Israeli drone bombed his prison, allowing him to escape. == Notes ==