Iran: IS sent warning letters to Middle East embassies
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עברית (Hebrew)
Deputy Iranian Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hussein Amir Abdollahian said that after the self-styled Islamic State (IS) took over Mosul in early June, it sent letters to the embassies of countries in the region warning them not to take action against the group.
Abdollahian did not say what else was in the letter. Iran was one of the first countries to assist the Iraqi military and Kurdish forces in Iraq in the fight against IS. The United States is also leading an anti-IS coalition that includes a number of Middle Eastern countries such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan, conducting air strikes against IS positions in Iraq and Syria.
US President Barack Obama met with defense officials from 20 different countries to discuss IS on Oct. 14. He said that there are about 60 countries in the coalition, which he described as a “long-term campaign.”
Turkey, a NATO country that shares a border with Syria and Iraq, has not yet joined the coalition but according to Kurdish Regional Government President Massoud Barzani, has supplied weapons. On the complex web of competing interests in the anti-IS coalition, Abdollahian told Al Monitor, “We have conflicting interests with our Turkish friends on the issue of Syria. And we told them and the Americans: The issue of [President] Bashar al-Assad staying or leaving will be decided by the Syrian people.” He added that Iran is not trying to keep Assad in the Syrian presidency for life, “but we will not allow one of our prime allies in the resistance to fall to terrorists.”
Abdollahian said that before the United States conducted airstrikes against IS inside Syria, Washington informed Iran and Syria that it “had no plans to hit Syrian bases.” Abdollahian said despite the notification, they did not trust the Americans.
