US Secretary of State John Kerry says Washington wants Iran’s help in campaign against the ISIL terrorist group, noting that the impact could be “positive”.
“I think it’s self-evident that if Iran is taking on ISIL in some particular place and it’s confined to taking on ISIL and it has an impact, it’s going to be — the net effect is positive,” Kerry told at meeting in Brussels on Wednesday of the US-led coalition against the terrorist group in Syria and Iraq.
However, Kerry said that the US is not currently coordinating any military action against ISIL with Iran and that there is presently no plan to do it either. “We are not — not only not coordinating militarily right now, but there are no plans at this time to coordinate militarily”.
He said that the Iraqis have the overall responsibility for their own ground and air operations, adding the US is coordinating the mission in Iraq with the government in Baghdad.
The US defense department has claimed that Iranian fighter jets attacked ISIL militants in eastern Iraq in recent days; however, Tehran has not confirmed any such strikes.
Iran, nevertheless, acknowledged that it provides military consultations to Iraqi officials in their fight against the Takfiri terrorists.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman reiterated on Wednesday that nothing has changed about Tehran’s policy of providing military assistance based on international regulations.
The ISIL terrorists, who were initially trained by the CIA in Jordan in 2012 to destabilize the Syrian government, now control large parts of Iraq and Syria.
http://presstv.com/detail/2014/12/03/388656/kerry-us-wants-irans-help-on-isil/