Iraq to share intelligence on IS with Russia, Iran and Syria

BAGHDAD – Iraq will begin sharing “security and intelligence” information with Russia, Syria and Iran to help combat the Islamic State group, the Iraqi military said Sunday.

A statement issued by the Joint Operations Command said the countries will “help and co-operate in collecting information about the terrorist Daesh group,” using the Arabic acronym for the IS group.

READ MORE: France fires first airstrikes on extremists in Syria

Iraq has long had close ties with neighbouring Iran and has co-ordinated with Tehran in fighting IS – which controls about a third of Iraq and Syria in a self-declared caliphate. Iran has sent military advisers to Iraq and worked closely with Shiite militias battling the IS group.

A U.S.-led coalition has been conducting airstrikes against IS in Iraq and Syria as well as training and advising Iraqi forces, but U.S. officials insist they are not co-ordinating their efforts with Iran.

The U.S. also refuses to co-operate with Syrian President Bashar Assad, who Washington has insisted should step down.

READ MORE: German intelligence has evidence IS used mustard gas in northern Iraq

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Sunday, said in response to the Iraqi statement that “all of the efforts need to be co-ordinated. This is not yet co-ordinated.”

“I think we have concerns about how we are going to go forward. That is precisely what we are meeting on to talk about now. Our presidents will be meeting tomorrow,” he told reporters, referring to talks between U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "I think we have concerns about how we are going to go forward. That is precisely what we are meeting on to talk about now. Our presidents will be meeting tomorrow," he told reporters, referring to talks between U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Lavrov, when asked about the purpose of the co-operation with Iraq, said it was to “co-ordinate the efforts against ISIL,” using an acronym for the Islamic State group.

Moscow has been ramping up its involvement in Syria in defence of its ally, President Bashar Assad. Russia has recently ferried weapons, troops and supplies to an airport near the Syrian coastal city of Latakia in what the U.S. sees as preparations for setting up an air base there.

The Iraqi military statement said Moscow is increasingly concerned about “the presence of thousands of terrorists from Russia who are carrying out criminal acts with Daesh.”

—

AP Diplomatic writer Matthew Lee at the United Nations contributed to this report.