Iran has a role to play in fight against Islamic State: Kerry

PanARMENIAN.Net - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry says Iran has a role to play in the fight against Islamic State (IS) militants, according to BBC News.

Despite not being invited to join the U.S.-led military coalition, Iran - Kerry said - could help "take out" IS.

Last week, the U.S. said it would be inappropriate for Iran to join the coalition because of its "engagement in Syria and elsewhere".

The U.S. and France have both carried out air strikes against IS, who control large swathes of Iraq and Syria.

President Francois Hollande said French jets carried out their first strikes on Friday, Sept 19, hitting an IS depot in north-eastern Iraq.

The U.S. has carried out more than 170 air strikes against the jihadist group in Iraq since mid-August.

Chairing a meeting of the United Nations Security Council, Kerry said the coalition to eliminate IS was not only military in nature.

"It's about taking out an entire network, decimating and discrediting a militant cult masquerading as a religious movement," Kerry said. "There is a role for nearly every country in the world to play, including Iran."

Earlier this week, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said he had personally rejected overtures from the U.S. for cooperation in fighting IS.

"I saw no point in cooperating with a country whose hands are dirty and intentions murky," Ayatollah Khamenei was quoted as saying by state news agency Irna.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif also warned that the "dangerous phenomenon" of IS would not be "eradicated through aerial bombardments".

Kerry's comments came after the U.S. state department revealed that US and Iranian representatives had discussed the threat posed by IS on the sidelines of talks on Iran's nuclear program.

The 15-member UN Security Council adopted a statement expressing support for Iraq's new government amid a "large-scale offensive" by IS militants that posed "a major threat to the region".

U.S. President Barack Obama says that 40 nations, including 10 Arab states, have joined the coalition to take on IS militants.

On Thursday, the U.S. Senate approved Obama's plan to arm and train moderate Syrian rebels to fight IS. US air strikes are now expected in Syria, but Obama said he will not authorize a ground operation in Iraq or Syria.

President Hollande said there would be more French air raids on Iraq in the coming days but he also insisted no ground troops would be sent to the region. France had already been carrying out reconnaissance flights over Iraq and providing weapons to Kurdish fighters in the north.