MOSCOW, September 15 (RIA Novosti) – Iran has rejected the US requests for cooperation in fighting Islamic State extremists, Agence France-Presse reported on Monday, citing the Supreme Leader of Iran Ali Khamenei.
“Right from the start, the United States asked through its ambassador in Iraq whether we could cooperate against Daesh [Arabic acronym for Islamic State]. I said no, because they have dirty hands. Secretary of State [John Kerry] personally asked [Iranian Foreign Minister] Mohammad Javad Zarif and he rejected the request,” Khamenei stated.
On September 5, US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said at the NATO Summit in Wales that the United States, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Turkey, Italy, Poland, and Denmark should form an international coalition to fight the Islamic State.
The IS, also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) or Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), has been fighting the Syrian government since 2012. In June 2014, it launched an offensive in Iraq and seized vast areas in both countries, proclaiming an Islamic caliphate on the territories under its control.
On September 10, US President Barack Obama unveiled his strategy for defeating the IS that includes authorizing US airstrikes against the group in Syria and continuing airstrikes in Iraq.
