U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power said Sunday that the United States will not coordinate with Iran in the fight against Islamic terrorists.
Power, who made the talk show rounds Sunday, told ABC’s “This Week” that there would be no information-sharing or other coordinated efforts with Iran because the country has shown support for other terrorist groups, including Hezbollah, and it backs Syrian President Bashar Assad, whom the United States wants to remove from power.
Power said the United States is hardly alone in the quest to defeat the Islamic terrorists. On “Meet the Press,” she described “an outpouring of support” from other nations, including the French, who last week joined in combat strike missions in Iraq.
In total, Power said, 40 nations have committed to helping defeat the terrorist groups.
“We’re seeing a diverse range of forms of support, and the commitments are coming in every day,” Power said.
But the United States is not working with Iran, Power said, in response to a question about Secretary of State John Kerry, who said last week about the effort to defeat the Islamic terrorists.
“There is a role for nearly every country in the world to play, including Iran,” Kerry said while chairing a meeting of the United Nations Security Council.
But Power appeared to disagree with Kerry when asked about his statement.
“Well, let me be clear,” Power said on “This Week.” “We are not coordinating with Iran. We are not sharing intelligence with Iran. Iran has said that [the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria] is its enemy, but by the same token, Iran has supported Hezbollah and the Assad regime.”
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said last week he won’t help America fight the Islamic terrorists.
Kerry last week also told the House Foreign Relations Committee the United States is not coordinating with Iran, but he has publicly encouraged Iran to take action against the Islamic State.
