Iran president pledges support for Iraq

TEHRAN: Iran's President Hassan Rouhani says Iran will stand by its neighbor Iraq in its fight against the Sunni extremists of the Islamic State group.
Rouhani told visiting Iraqi Prime Minister Heidar al-Abadi Tuesday that Iran "will remain on the path until the last day," according to a report by the official IRNA news agency.
Rouhani says Iran will continue to provide Baghdad with military advisers and weapons. He also criticized the U.S. for allegedly failing to sufficiently support Iraq.
Bombings in and near Baghdad killed 19 people on Tuesday, the latest in near-daily attacks targeting the Iraqi capital as the country's Shiite-led government grapples with a rampant Sunni insurgency by the Islamic State group, according to a news agency.