Russia, Iran challenge Kerry’s plan for anti-IS unity at UN
The two countries slammed the US and Sunni states for trying to cut out Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
The Sept. 19 UN Security Council meeting on the Islamic State (IS) laid bare the regional rivalries that risk undermining calls for a united front against the extremist group.
US Secretary of State John Kerry, presiding over the UN forum, opened the session with an upbeat assessment that some 50 countries have joined the fight against the group also known as ISIS (the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham) or ISIL (the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) in some form or another. That message of unity was quickly undermined by strong opposition from countries critical of US plans to act in Syria without Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s approval.
“The international coalition against ISIL, which is said to be in the offing, has yet to decide to pursue a serious strategy,” said Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.
Such a strategy, Araghchi said, should discourage “centrifugal forces” inside Iraq — namely, the Kurds — while working with Assad’s forces in Syria.
