Islamic State: Iran has never conducted air strikes against IS militants in Iraq ...

Posted December 03, 2014 22:20:28

Iran has not launched any air strikes against Islamic State (IS) targets in Iraq, a senior Iranian official says.

'Iran has never been involved in any air strikes against the Daesh [Islamic State] targets in Iraq,' the official said on condition of anonymity.

'Any cooperation in such strikes with America is also out of question for Iran.'

Earlier Iran's foreign ministry refused to confirm or deny if its fighter jets had struck IS militants in eastern Iraq in recent days as reported by the Pentagon.

'There has been no change to Iran's policy to provide support and advice to Iraqi officials in the fight against Daesh,' spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham said.

'I do not confirm this information on military cooperation (with Iraq). We provide military support and advice in the context of international rules,' she told reporters when asked about the reported Iranian bombing.

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On Tuesday, Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby said the United States had 'indications that they (the Iranians) did indeed fly air strikes with F-4 Phantoms in the past several days.'

His comments came after Al Jazeera recently ran footage of what appeared to be an F-4 fighter, similar to those used by the Iranian air force, attacking targets in the eastern province of Diyala.

Iranian forces have been active on the ground in Iraq assisting Shiite militia and Baghdad government units.

Tehran also has provided Sukhoi Su-25 aircraft to Iraq amid widespread speculation the planes are flown by Iranian pilots.

Meanwhile, the head of Al-Azhar, one of the most prestigious centres of Sunni Islam learning, has condemned the 'barbaric crimes' committed by IS in Iraq and Syria.

Speaking at an international conference in Cairo, Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb said IS militants were acting 'under the guise of this holy religion and have given themselves the name 'Islamic State' in an attempt to export their false Islam.'

US fighters, bombers and surveillance aircraft fly daily missions over Iraq along with other coalition warplanes from European governments as well as Australia and Canada.

The US-led air war against IS began on August 8 in Iraq and was extended into Syria in September.

Reuters/AFP

Topics:unrest-conflict-and-war, terrorism, defence-and-national-security, iran-islamic-republic-of, iraq, united-states