CIA not working with Iran to fight ISIS

The head of the CIA isn’t directly working with Iranian leads to fight Islamic terrorists in the Middle East, though there is a mutual interest in combating the threat.

“I am not engaging — liaising — with Mr. Qasem Soleimani, who is the head of the Quds Force in Iran,” CIA Director John Brennan said on Friday, referring to the spy force within the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.
However, Brennan acknowledged that both the U.S. and Iran are interested in defeating the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), and both work with the Iraqi government to combat the terrorist group.

“There’s an alignment of some interest between ourselves and Iran, clearly, in terms of what ISIL has done there,” Brennan said, using an alternate acronym for ISIS.

“We work closely with the Iraqi government; the Iranians work closely with the Iraqi government as well,” he added. “So some of these efforts, I think, through the Iraqi interlocutors, again, are ones that are trying to advance our common objectives against ISIL.”

Iran has been one of the biggest supporters of Shiite militia groups that have been attacking ISIS in Iraq and Syria. Much of that effort has been personally led by Soleimani, who has been called a “shadow commander” in the U.S.

Iran has “certainly brought to bear a number of capabilities” against ISIS, Brennan admitted, though he also cited the “tremendous effort” made by the U.S. and other allies.

Last year, President Obama reportedly sent a secret letter to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei noting the shared interest in the fight against ISIS and said that any cooperation on the effort was dependent on certain components of ongoing talks trying to halt the country’s nuclear program.