MOSCOW, September 15 (RIA Novosti) – Any international coalition against the Islamic State (IS) extremist group must include Iran, Iraqi President Fuad Masum stated, SAWA radio reported.
"Iraq and Iran share a border of about a thousand kilometers long, Iran – a major regional state – provides us with humanitarian and military aid from the beginning of the crisis. Besides, the struggle with the IS should play a primary role, around which it is necessary to unite the international community. All differences here should be sidelined." Masum said on the eve of the international conference on Iraq in Paris.
France is hosting Monday an international conference, urgently initiated by President Francois Hollande in connection with the intensification of the Sunni extremist group's activities in the Middle East. Foreign ministers of more than 20 countries are expected in Paris to develop common steps to combat the IS and terrorism in general.
The IS, also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) or Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), has been fighting the Syrian government since 2012. In June 2014, it launched an offensive in Iraq and seized vast areas in both countries, proclaiming an Islamic caliphate on the territories under its control.
On September 10, US President Barack Obama unveiled his strategy for defeating the IS that includes authorizing US airstrikes against the group in Syria and continuing airstrikes in Iraq.
