Iranian fighter jets have bombed Islamic State militants in eastern Iraq in recent days, the Pentagon has said, in a development that confirms Tehran’s determination to confront the jihadists.The air raids mark an escalation in Iran’s role in a conflict where Tehran and Washington have no formal partnership but share a common enemy in the Isis group, which both governments view as a dangerous threat.
“We have indications that they [Iran] did indeed fly air strikes with F-4 Phantoms in the past several days,” Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby told Agence France-Presse.
His comments came a few days after al-Jazeera ran footage of what appeared to be an ageing F-4 fighter similar to those used by the Iran’s air force attacking targets in the eastern province of Diyala.
Iranian forces have been active on the ground in Iraq assisting Shia militia and Baghdad government units but it is the first time the United States has confirmed the Iranian air force is conducting strikes against Isis.
Kirby said the United States was not co-ordinating with Iranian forces and it was up to the Iraqi government to oversee military flights by different countries.
“We are flying missions over Iraq. We co-ordinate with the Iraqi government as we conduct those,” Kirby told reporters.
“Nothing has changed about our policy of not co-ordinating military activity with the Iranians.”
Even if there is no direct communication between the two countries’ forces, the Americans likely would be aware and easily monitor flights over Iraq by Iran’s less sophisticated air fleet. Iran acquired its F-4 fighters from the United States before the 1979 revolution that toppled the country’s pro-US monarchy.
A US air command centre in Qatar co-ordinates American fighters, bombers, drones and surveillance aircraft flying round-the-clock missions over Iraq along with other coalition warplanes from European governments as well as Australia and Canada.
The onslaught of Isis in Iraq has forged an unlikely alignment between Iran and the United States, and comes amid a US diplomatic drive to agree a deal with Iran over its nuclear programme. Officials acknowledge the two sides have discussed the war in Iraq on the margins of the nuclear talks.
But they remain deeply opposed over Syria, with Iran providing crucial military backing for President Bashar al-Assad while Washington has vowed to train a moderate rebel force to eventually confront the Damascus regime.
Analysts and former US officials say neither country appears ready to pursue elaborate co-operation for military operations in Iraq but there appears to be some level of tactical communication at least to avoid accidents.
Shia-ruled Iran has close ties to the government in Baghdad led by the same branch of Islam and Tehran quickly came to the neighbouring government’s aid after the Sunni jihadists overran Iraqi army units in western and northern Iraq earlier this year.
Iran also has provided Sukhoi Su-25 aircraft to Iraq and there is widespread speculation the planes are flown by Iranian pilots.
Iranian weapons have made their way to Shia fighters in Iraq, including 12.7mm rifles designed to penetrate armoured vehicles and multiple rocket launchers, according to a report by IHS Jane’s Defence.
The commander of Iran’s elite Quds Force, Major General Qassem Suleimani, led a counter-attack in Iraq over the summer that pushed back Isis militants from a key route leading from Samarra to Baghdad, according to Lebanon’s Shia movement Hezbollah.
Suleimani flew to Baghdad on 10 June, hours after the Islamic State group seized the Iraqi city of Mosul, and hammered out a strategy “to secure Baghdad and its surroundings”, according to the Hezbollah’s al-Manar website.
Suleimani also reportedly has had a hand in operations against the Isis group in Amerli in the north and in eastern Iraq near the Iranian border. Iranian television last month released a rare photo of Suleimani in Iraq with Kurdish Peshmerga fighters, promoting Tehran’s role in the fight against Isis.
Iran has declined to join the US-led coalition against the Isis group and publicly dismissed the air war, but Tehran’s Iraqi allies have benefited from the strikes against the jihadists.
SourceThe Guardian