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The spokesperson for the Iraqi army has threatened military intervention in Syria against opposition rebels who seized large swathes of the country's northwestÌýif the ongoing offensive against the Assad regime impacts Iraq.Ìý

Yahya Rasool, speaking on national television on Monday, referred to the rebels as "terrorists" and claimed their leader,ÌýAbu Mohammed al-Jolani,Ìýwas Saudi and not Syrian, according to °®Âþµº's Arabic-language site, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.

Al-Jolani was in fact born in Saudi Arabia, to parents native to the Golan Heights which has been occupied and subsequently annexed by Israel since 1967. Al-Jolani’s family eventually settled back in Syria in the 1980s.

"We have intelligence inside Syria that has penetrated these groups. If they are thinking of approaching Iraq, we will target them before the idea is completed, even if they are inside Syria," he said

"We will not wait for them to reach the border. There is now an intelligence effort that follows what is happening, analyses and submits a report every hour."

Rasool also claimed that Iraqi militias in Syria had a "right" to exist there.

No threat to Baghdad

Rasool’s comments came despite the Syrian rebels assuring the Iraqi government that their offensive will pose no threat to Baghdad’s security or stability, earlier during the offensive.

The Shia-affiliated Coordination Framework coalition in Iraq, which includes forces and factions allied with Iran, echoed Rasool’s sentiment, and called the offensive in Syria is an "occupation by terrorists."

In contrast, the head of the Sovereignty Alliance which represents the largest Sunni Arab forces in Iraq, called on the Iraqi government to work on bringing together representatives of the Syrian opposition and the regime, with the participation of other regional countries, in a bid to find a solution to the current crisis, according to Al-Araby.

In a statement, Khamis al-Khanjar called for non-interference in Syrian affairs in compliance with Article 8 of the IraqiÌý constitution, and to spare Iraq from the consequences while demanding the withdrawal of Iraqi fighters from Syrian territory.

Earlier during the offensive, Iran-backed groups in Iraq had already announced plans to back the Assad regime in Syria, notably the Kata’ib ÌýSayyid Shuhada group, whose spokesperson said Iraq will be the "first country" impacted by the ongoing offensive.

Iraqi factions, particularly Shia paramilitary groups like Kata'ib Hezbollah and Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq, started fighting in Syria around 2012 to support the Assad regime and protect Shia religious sites, gradually withdrawing between 2018 and 2019 as the Syrian forces, backed by Russian airstrikes, brutally regained control of key territories.

Late on Saturday, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' Al Sudani called Assad to discuss the latest developments in a move interpreted as support for forces loyal to the regime leader.

The offensive, dubbed 'Operation Deter the Aggression', serves as a response to Russian-backed regime strikes on northwest Syria in recent weeks. Rebels have captured a number of key towns in villages in the provinces of Aleppo, Idlib and Hama since last Wednesday, and are advancing forward with their offensive.