DUBAI, October 21 (RIA Novosti) - Iran does not trust the US-led campaign to fight the Islamic State (IS), the country’s Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian said.
At the meeting with Dutch Deputy Foreign Minister on Monday, Abdollahian voiced suspicion over the United States’ determination to fight the IS and noted that the measures taken by the coalition were counterproductive and even aggravated terrorism, Iranian news agency Fars reported Tuesday.
Abdollahian also emphasized that Tehran "views its position above" joining the "bloc doomed to failure," the agency reported.
The deputy foreign minister also noted that Iran supports Iraq and Syria in their efforts to fight terrorism.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Abadi is currently in Tehran to hold talks with the country's leaders on coordinating efforts to fight the IS.
The IS, also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS), or the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), is a Sunni Islamist group that has been fighting the Syrian government since 2012. In June, the group extended its attacks to northern and western Iraq, declaring a caliphate on the territories that had fallen under its control.
The United States and a number of its allies have been carrying out air strikes against IS targets in Iraq since August. In September, the US-led coalition started conducting attacks against the group in Syria.
