WASHINGTON, D.C.
The U.S. State Department Thursday warned the Syrian government against involvement in the ongoing crisis in neighboring Iraq following airstrikes in the west of the country.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki confirmed to the BBC that Syrian warplanes struck Sunni militant positions near the western Iraqi border town of al Qaim. The premier said that Iraq "welcomed" the strikes.
But the State Department voiced its opposition to Syrian involvement in Iraq.
“To be very clear, Iraq's security situation cannot and should not be resolved by the Assad regime, by airstrikes from the Assad regime or by militias funded and supported by other countries in the region stepping in,” Marie Harf, State Department deputy spokeswoman, said. “I'm not sure how anything the Assad regime could do could be anything other than inflaming sectarian tensions.”
Iraqi security forces have been unable to turn back Sunni militants led by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) as they advance from the north and west of the country towards the capital Baghdad.
Harf did not rule out a positive role for Iran in Iraq but urged any foreign involvement in Iraq to refrain from sectarianism. She added that while Iran and the U.S. share a common enemy in ISIL, they do not share strategic interests.
“Iran could play a constructive role if it did things to promote an inclusive government,” said Harf. “That is very different than an Assad regime which is responsible in large part for the rise in strength of ISIL, who have created a security situation where ISIL could flourish.”
www.aa.com.tr/en
