Kerry says US open to hold talks with Iran on ISIL
US Secretary of State John Kerry said the United States is ready to hold talks with Iran to tackle the ISIL threat despite Tehran’s reluctance to cooperate with Washington over the issue.
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Speaking at an international conference in Paris on Monday, Kerry said the US is open to discuss the issue with Iran on the margins of the P5+1 negotiations in New York that will resume on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly later this week, the New York Times reported.
The Paris conference, dubbed the International Conference on Peace and Security in Iraq, is aimed at helping the Iraqi government fight the terrorist group.
Kerry admitted that the Iranians were not invited to the conference, but this “doesn’t mean that we are opposed to the idea of communicating to find out if they will come on board or under what circumstances or whether there is the possibility of a change.”
Iran says it was requested by the United States to hold talks on ISIL, but the Islamic Republic turned down the offer.
On Monday, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said that he has told Iranian officials not to cooperate with the US on the issue because of America’s malicious intentions, which aim at regime change in Syria and regional domination.
Ayatollah Khamenei said that Foreign Minister Javad Zarif was also asked by US officials to participate in talks to resolve the ISIL crisis, but he declined the offer.
In the past, US officials formed a coalition of a few countries to topple the Syrian government but they failed in achieving their goal, and the same will happen with the coalition in Iraq, the Leader said.
US State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki confirmed that the US held discussions with Iran about combating ISIL.
