Iran launched airstrikes against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria in recent days, but Secretary of State John Kerry insisted Wednesday that the U.S. is not coordinating its anti-Islamic State strategy with Tehran.
The Pentagon earlier Wednesday confirmed that Iranian F-4 Phantom jets had carried out several airstrikes in Iraq’s Diyala province, which extends from northeast Baghdad to the Iranian border, over the last several days.
Iranian troops have been fighting alongside Iraqi forces for months but this week marks the first time the U.S. has confirmed Iranian air activity. The airstrikes also demonstrate in stark relief the strange-bedfellow alliances the war against the Islamic State has produced.
Washington and Tehran are struggling to strike a deal to roll back Iran’s nuclear program and provide more sanctions relief to Tehran. But they are also have a mutual interest in defeating the Islamic State and separately expanding their influence in Iraq.
When asked if he believed the strikes were helpful in fighting the Islamic State, Kerry said it’s obvious that the “net effect” of Iran taking on the Islamic State is positive.
But he stressed that the Iraqi government, not the U.S., is controlling the airspace and there are no plans to coordinate strategy between Washington and Tehran.
“That’s not something that we’re coordinating,” he said. “The Iraqis have the overall responsibility for their own ground and air operations, and what they choose to do is up to them.”
Kerry was in Brussels Wednesday meeting with a group of 60 member countries of the anti-Islamic State international coalition.
Afterward, he said the countries agreed that they have halted the Islamic State’s momentum and have forced the terrorist group to modify its tactics, hampering its ability to hold onto territory and straining its finances.
He also praised many Muslim countries for denouncing the Islamic State’s extreme message and intolerance for non-Sunnis.
“Their message of hate is being challenged in public meeting places, in mosques across the globe,” he said. “This clearly represents a multifaceted effort.”
