Friday 12 September 2014

Kerry says no to Iran help in Islamic State fight

Ynetnews

US Secretary of State John Kerry said on Friday he was confident that the United States would form a broad-based coalition to fight Islamic State militants but said it would not be appropriate for Iran to be involved in the efforts.

Kerry has been touring the Middle East to build support for President Barack Obama's plan, announced on Wednesday, to strike both sides of the Syrian-Iraqi frontier to defeat Islamic State Sunni fighters that control swathes of both countries.

"I'm comfortable that this will be a broad-based coalition with Arab nations, European nations, the United States, others," Kerry said, speaking in Ankara after meeting Turkish leaders.

Kerry told reporters in the Turkish capital he has not been formally asked about whether Iran should participate in the meeting of diplomats set for Monday in Paris.

But said Iran should not be there, given its support for Syrian President Bashar Assad in his three-year war against rebels that are trying to oust him from power.

He further said France had publicly made clear its willingness to take action in Iraq and to use force but said it was too soon to say what role individual nations would play.

"It is entirely premature and frankly inappropriate at this point in time to start laying out one country by one country what individual nations are going to do," Kerry told reporters.

"At the appropriate time, every role will be laid out in detail," he said.

France said Friday it is prepared to invite Iran to an international conference Monday aimed at coordinating actions to knock out the Islamic State extremists in Iraq - even though that runs counter to the US refusal to deal with Tehran.

The position reflects a recent shift in France's policy toward Iran, a Shiite Muslim nation and neighbor of Iraq that joins regional states and the West in adamantly opposing the advance of the radicals. Tehran's long-time influence, including at times a military presence, in Shiite-majority Iraq makes it a logical partner in France's eyes.

A French official helping to plan the conference says the only hitch is agreeing with partners, but added "we are not far from a consensus." The official, who was not authorized to be publicly named, didn't elaborate.

Turkey, a NATO member which shares long borders with both Syria and Iraq, is one of Washington's main allies in the region. But it has so far conspicuously avoided committing to the new military campaign. Turkish leaders were not present at Kerry's press conference in Ankara.

On Thursday, Kerry won backing for a "coordinated military campaign" against Islamic State from 10 Arab countries - Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and six Gulf states including rich rivals Saudi Arabia and Qatar.




© copyright 2004 - 2024 IranPressNews.com All Rights Reserved