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

PanARMENIAN.Net - Iraq's military said Sunday, September 27, it will begin sharing "security and intelligence" information with Syria, Russia and Iran to help combat the Islamic State group, a move that could further complicate U.S. efforts to battle the extremists without working with Damascus and its allies, the Associated Press reports.

A statement issued by the Joint Operations Command said the countries will "help and cooperate in collecting information about the terrorist Daesh group," using the Arabic acronym for the IS group.

The Baghdad-based spokesman for the U.S.-led campaign against the IS group, Col. Steve Warren, said the U.S. remains committed to working with Iraq to defeat the extremists.

"We recognize that Iraq has an interest in sharing information on ISIL with other governments in the region who are also fighting ISIL," Warren said, using another acronym for the militant group. "We do not support the presence of Syrian government officials who are part of a regime that has brutalized its own citizens."

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly on Sunday, said in response to the Iraqi statement that "all of the efforts need to be coordinated. This is not yet coordinated."

Lavrov, when asked about the purpose of the cooperation with Iraq, said it was to "coordinate the efforts against ISIL."

Moscow has been ramping up its involvement in Syria in defense of Assad by ferrying 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.