Iran Appears to Be Launching Airstrikes Against ISIS in Iraq: Pentagon - NBCNews.com

LONDON — Iran appears to be launching airstrikes against ISIS targets in eastern Iraq, according to the Pentagon.

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Marziyeh Afkham would not directly address airstrikes on Wednesday, but said "there is no change in Iranian policy about helping the Iraqi government against ISIS or consulting and advising the Iraqi government against terrorists."

But Pentagon Press Secretary Rear Admiral John Kirby said he has seen "nothing that would dispute" reports that Iran has carried out airstrikes in eastern Iraq, adding that the U.S. was "not taking a position" on the matter. "We have no indication that the reports are not true," Kirby told reporters when pressed at a briefing on Tuesday.

Iran is not a member of the broad-based coalition against ISIS that Secretary of State John Kerry cobbled together and Washington and Tehran have ruled out working together to defeat the militants. Kerry in September called Iran's involvement in neighboring Iraq "collateral," while Tehran's president told NBC News that the U.S.-led coalition was "ridiculous."

Still, photos showing Iranian fighters and even a powerful general — Ghasem Soleimani — on Iraqi territory have underscored the regional Shiite powerhouse's presence in the fight against Sunni ISIS militants. While the airstrikes mentioned by Kirby appear to be the first of their kind, they signal Iran's continued interest in taking down the militants at their doorstep and one more instance in which the U.S. and Tehran find themselves fighting for the same side.

Kirby on Tuesday stressed that the U.S. is not coordinating with any Iranian airstrikes. "Nothing has changed about our policy of not coordinating military activity with the Iranians," he added. Iran's foreign ministry spokeswoman said the same.

IN-DEPTH

• Iran's Rouhani Blasts ISIS and 'Ridiculous' U.S.-Led Coalition


• Iraq Explained: What You Need to Know About Current Crisis


• Iran's Ayatollah Khamenei Strongly Opposes U.S. Actions in Iraq

SOCIAL

%3Cblockquote%20class=%22twitter-tweet%22%20lang=%22en%22%3E%3Cp%3E"We%20are%20not%20taking%20a%20position%20on%20these%20particular%20reports%20regarding%20these%20particular%20strikes,"%20says%20%3Ca%20href=%22https://twitter.com/PentagonPresSec%22%3E@PentagonPresSec%3C/a%3E%20re:%20Iran,%20airstrikes%3C/p%3E—%20U.S.%20Dept%20of%20Defense%20(@DeptofDefense)%20%3Ca%20href=%22https://twitter.com/DeptofDefense/status/539864364728467457%22%3EDecember%202,%202014%3C/a%3E%3C/blockquote%3E%20%3Cscript%20async%20src=%22//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js%22%20charset=%22utf-8%22%3E%3C/script%3E

— Cassandra Vinograd

First published December 3 2014, 3:33 AM

Source: Top Stories - Google News - http://ift.tt/1tLXQiV