Russia, Iran, Syria ‘cooperating to counter ISIL’

Iraq has agreed to set up a cell increasing intelligence coordination with Russian Federation, Syria and Iran in the fight against the Islamic State group, a government spokesman said on Sunday.

A U.S.-led coalition has meanwhile been conducting airstrikes against IS in Iraq and Syria as well as training and advising Iraqi forces, but US officials insist they are not coordinating their efforts with Iran. The ISIS/Syria/Iraq situation is expected to feature prominently on both occasions. But now Russian Federation is upping its presence in the region. The military cited “increased Russian concerns” about ISIS as part of the reason for the move.

“I think the critical thing is that all of the efforts need to be coordinated”, Kerry replied.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, also in New York, told CNN television: “I think today everyone has accepted that President Assad must remain so that we can combat the terrorists“.

But when a senior State Department official briefed reporters on background after the Kerry-Lavrov meeting, the official said Iraq had not been discussed.

The focus on shortcomings in the global effort to combat ISIS is playing out as tens of thousands of refugees flee strife in the Middle East and North Africa, including many seeking to escape the violence in Syria and oppression in areas under the control of ISIS. And while the Pentagon estimates that coalition airstrikes have killed roughly 10,000 ISIS fighters, the militant group is having little trouble replacing and expanding its forces, with some 1,000 new recruits joining up every month.

Even before the announcement from Baghdad, Iraq’s Shi’ite-led government has appeared sympathetic to the Tehran-Damascus-Moscow partnership. And in Iraq, Trump said he would be willing to send round forces to fight the radical militant group. “So we stood neutral – not with or against”.

Though ISIS is the primary rebel antagonist in both Iraq and Syria, and holds its territory contiguously across both nations, in many ways the ISIS war has been treated as two different wars in two different countries.

Kirby rejected the notion that Iraq was supporting the Assad regime, but when asked about Iraq enabling the Russians to fly in military support for Assad, he demurred.

Also in the province, another air strike by and Iraqi warplane bombarded IS positions in Souffiyah district in northern Ramadi, killing four people and wounding seven others, he said.