Secretary of State John Kerry said the U.S. would not take Iran up on its offer to join a coalition of partners willing to take on the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria even as he struggled to say how other countries would assist in the global battle to defeat the extremist terrorist group.
While visiting Turkey Friday to press leaders there to start taking steps to shut down its borders — and the flow of funding — to the Islamic State, Kerry waved off any suggestion that Iran would join the so-called coalition of the willing.
“That’s not even being raised,” Kerry said.
Acknowledging that Iran already has Revolutionary Guard troops in both Syria and Iraq fighting the Islamic State, Kerry said working with Tehran on the fight wouldn’t be appropriate considering that it backs Bashar Assad, the leader who helped fuel the rise of the Sunni extremist terrorists, and that the U.S. and its allies consider it a “state sponsor of terrorism in various places.”
France, which joined the U.S.-led coalition earlier this week, has signaled that it wants Iran to participate in diplomatic talks scheduled for Monday in Paris. Kerry said his French counterparts have not called him to ask about that.
The French, Kerry said, have agreed to take military action in Iraq, although he didn’t say whether they would be willing to do so in Syria. Over the past 48 hours there have been conflicting reports about what the British have been willing to do in terms of using deadly force. The White House on Thursday said it didn’t believe Britain had ruled out helping to launch airstrikes in Syria but would leave those types of decisions to the country’s leaders to announce.
Kerry said as many as 40 countries have offered some level of assistance, although he declined to say which countries have agreed to participate in military strikes, aside from France.
After spending the day with Turkish leaders, he notably did not announce any specific agreements with its officials. On Thursday, Turkey, which shares a Southeast border with Syria, announced that it would join the U.S.-led anti-ISIS coalition.
“With the question of not just Turkey but any country at this point, it’s entirely premature and frankly inappropriate … to start laying out one country by one country what individual nations are going to do,” he said.
U.S. officials view Turkey’s involvement as especially critical because of its proximity to Syria and its direct ties to the conflict there. The Islamic State is holding dozens of Turkish citizens hostage, and cash, supplies and fighters for the group are flowing across its border.
