Russia, Iran and China begin security talks
Meeting of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation comes ahead of withdrawal of Western forces from Afghanistan. Nidhi Dutt reports. Subscribe to our channel http://bit.ly/AJSubscribe Follow us on...
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Russia, Iran and China begin security talks - Video
Iran Documentary "Fox Hunt," about the arrest 15 English marines
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By: ali javid
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Iran Documentary "Fox Hunt," about the arrest 15 English marines - Video
Secretary of State John F. Kerry said Egypt has a "critical role to play" in beating back the extremist Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq. (AP)
CAIRO Two countries, Iran and Saudi Arabia, have long borders with Iraq, seat of a growing battle against Islamic State militants. Despite the huge stakes for both border countries, only Saudi Arabia is now welcome as part of a U.S.-driven coalition of nations girding for a long fight.
The question of Irans participation has become a distraction for the Obama administration as it seeks to build a diverse international support base for a military and diplomatic campaign against militants that have laid claim to territory in Iraq and Syria.
Secretary of State John F. Kerry says Iran should not attend a conference about the militant threat that will be held Monday in Paris, although invitations are up to France.
It would not be appropriate given the many other issues ... with respect to their engagement in Syria and elsewhere," Kerry said Friday. He cited Irans military support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and alleged Iranian support for terrorist groups elsewhere. The United States and some Arab states are backing rebels trying to unseat Assad.
But the United States is trying to exclude Iran from the group for a more simple reason: If Shiite powerbroker Iran were present, Sunni powerbroker Saudi Arabia would bolt. So would other Sunni states that provide crucial regional backing for what might otherwise smack of another unilateral American military intervention in the Middle East.
Inviting Iran to participate in the military and diplomatic effort President Obama launched last week might also antagonize congressional critics of the separate U.S. effort to strike a landmark nuclear deal with Iran this fall. Republican hawks and pro-Israel Democrats alike have already accused the administration of being too generous in negotiations now running up on a November deadline.
Iran is indisputably a major player in whatever happens next in Iraq and Syria, and as the Islamic State has eclipsed both the rebel war in Syria and sectarian fragmentation in Iraq as the most instant threat, Iran finds itself on the same side as the United States and Sunni Arab states it considers adversaries.
Whether Iran is part of the formal coalition or not, that common cause makes many in the United States and Iran nervous. It may also offer a new sphere of cooperation for the two nations, estranged since 1979. Both Iran and the United States see the Islamic State as a looming threat best addressed swiftly, although its not clear that Iran would go along with unilateral American airstrikes inside Syria.
On Thursday, Irans Foreign Ministry said the international alliance against the Islamic State is shrouded in serious ambiguities.
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U.S.-led coalition seeks to exclude Iran from fight against Islamic State
U.S. Secretary of State John F. Kerry said Friday that it would not be appropriate for Iran to participate in a global security conference scheduled for next week in Paris.
Under the circumstances, at this moment in time, it would not be right for any number of reasons for Iran to take part in the session, Kerry told reporters in Ankara, Turkey, where he was trying to mobilize Turkish support for action against Islamic State militants in Syria and Iraq.
The comments were the latest diplomatic fallout from the battle against militants in Iraq, in which Washington and Tehran find themselves fighting on the same side an odd and sometimes uncomfortable position for two entrenched foes.
The conference in Paris is billed as a forum for global leaders to discuss how to confront the Islamic State, which now controls large swaths of Iraq and Syria. French officials have said they would like Iran to attend.
At the Ankara news conference, however, Kerry called Iran a state sponsor of terror and cited the presence of Iranian forces in Syria helping the government of President Bashar Assad.
Iran denies it has combat troops deployed in Syria but acknowledges it has sent military advisors to assist the Syrian government in its battle against rebels. Irans close ally, Hezbollah, a Lebanese group, has dispatched militiamen to Syria to fight for Assads government.
Tehran rejects allegations that it sponsors terrorism and accuses the United States of backing terrorists in Syria and elsewhere.
The campaign against the Islamic State in Iraq has created a new twist to the long-fraught relationship between Tehran and Washington, which have not had diplomatic relations for more than three decades. Iran is also an archenemy of Saudi Arabia and Israel, Washingtons two major Middle Eastern allies.
But the United States and Iran are now effectively allies in Iraq, although neither broadcasts the fact publicly. Both countries are helping Iraq battle the Islamic State, a Sunni Muslim movement that views Shiite Muslims as apostates. Iran is an overwhelmingly Shiite nation.
Iran, like the United States, has provided military assistance to Iraq, its neighbor. But U.S. officials have stressed that Washington has not coordinated its military activities in Iraq with Iran.
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'Not appropriate' for Iran to join Islamic State talks, Kerry says