|
 It quoted Deputy Foreign Minister Ebrahim Rahimpour as saying the
strikes were not coordinated with the United States, which is also
waging an air campaign against the radical Sunni Muslim militants
who control large parts of north and west Iraq.
The purpose of the strikes was "the defense of the interests of our
friends in Iraq", the newspaper quoted Rahimpour as saying in an
interview in London.
"We did not have any coordination with the Americans. We have
coordinated only with the Iraqi government," he said. "In general,
every military operation to help the Iraqi government is according
to their requests."
Rahimpour's reported comments were the first from an Iranian
official confirming Iran's role in the air strikes in the Iraqi
province of Diyala, which borders Iran, in late November. On
Wednesday an Iranian official had denied that Iran had launched any
such strikes.
 Diyala is an ethnically mixed province, where the Iraqi army, backed
by Kurdish Peshmerga and Shi’ite militias drove Islamic State out of
several towns and villages last month.
Iraq's Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said on Wednesday he had no
knowledge of Iranian air strikes. On Saturday, Finance Minister
Hoshiyar Zebari told a security conference in Bahrain: "It's not 100
percent confirmed."
The Iranian role was first highlighted in footage filmed by Al
Jazeera television, which appeared to show an F-4 Phantom striking
Islamic State positions in Diyala. Defense experts said Iran and
Turkey were the only regional operators of the F-4, and Turkey is
reluctant to take on Islamic State militarily.
[to top of second column] |
"We will not allow conditions in Iraq to descend to the level of
Syria, which has been created by foreign players," the Guardian
quoted Rahimpour as saying, referring to Syria's catastrophic
three-year war in which Iran supports President Bashar al-Assad
against rebels including Islamic State.
"And certainly our assistance (to Iraq) is stronger than our
assistance to Syria, because they are nearer to us," he said.
Rahimpour said Iran was also assisting Kurdish forces in northern
Iraq, but repeated Tehran's insistence that it did not have any
ground troops in Iraq. "This is only an advisory presence. There is
no need to send Iranian troops to Iraq. There are sufficient Iraqi
and Kurdish troops there," he said.
(Additional reporting by Yara Bayoumy in Manama; Writing by Dominic
Evans, editing by Louise Heavens)
[© 2014 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2014 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
