MOSCOW, June 19 (RIA Novosti) – Any military aid to Iraq, including from the US, must be approved by the United Nations Security Council first, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said Thursday.
"I am sure and convinced that any military actions, even upon government’s request … can be approved only by the UN Security Council, and then they are legitimate and correspond to norms and principles of the United Nations Charter," Lukashevich said commenting Iraq’s request for US military aid. The situation in Iraq is the result of reckless actions bypassing collective international decision-making bodies, the spokesman added.
According to media reports, Iraqi authorities have asked the US to launch air strikes on militants from the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) following the escalation of the conflict in the country.
The situation in Iraq worsened dramatically in early June, when ISIS fighters seized the major cities of Mosul and Tikrit, and claimed they intended to launch an offensive on Baghdad. Facing heavy fighting, Iraqi troops fled the area. Many soldiers have been taken captive or executed by the insurgents.
Iraqi authorities later claimed the army was working in coordination with Iraqi Kurdistan-based militias and armed groups consisting of local tribesmen. Together, they have reportedly succeeded in fighting off the ISIS attack on the town of Baqubah, pressing the insurgents in Mosul and taking back Tikrit, Samarra and Taji, the last of which is just 20 miles from the country’s capital. Over 250 extremists have been killed in the anti-terror operation thus far.
In 2003, a combined force of troops from the US, UK, Australia and Poland invaded Iraq and deposed the government of Saddam Hussein. The overthrow of Hussein, who had been in office for 24 years, has severely destabilized the country.
