On Nov. 30, Al Jazeera aired grainy footage obtained by local Iraqi media on Nov. 24 of an F-4 Phantom jet striking Islamic State (IS) targets in eastern Iraq. The report led to speculation of whether Iran was conducting bombings inside Iraq and denials by both the United States and Iran of cooperation between the two countries.

Jane’s Defense Weekly reported, “Iran and Turkey are the only regional operators of the F-4, and the location of the incident not far from the Iranian border, and Turkey’s unwillingness to get involved in the conflict militarily, indicate this to be an Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force … aircraft.” Iran had purchased the American aircraft before the 1979 revolution, when Iran and the United States were on friendly terms.

While Iran and the United States both remain committed to fighting a common enemy in IS, they have both rejected working with one another in Iraq to do so.

Following reports of the jet in Iraq, Pentagon spokesman Rear Adm. John Kirby said that the United States was not coordinating airstrikes with Iran, but “We have indications that they did indeed fly airstrikes with F-4 Phantoms in the past several days.” Kirby said that since it is Iraqi airspace, it would be Iraq’s responsibility to avoid overlap between US and Iranian aircraft.