(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) The Pentagon on Tuesday said it had seen nothing that would dispute reports that Iran flew airstrikes against ISIL targets over eastern Iraq.
"I have seen nothing that contradicts that," Rear Admiral John Kirby, Defense Department spokesman, said at a briefing. "So I cannot say it did not happen. But I am not in the business of confirming the operations of foreign militaries. They (the Iranians) need to do that." Iraq is a sovereign nation, and the Iraqis "are competent enough to de-conflict their airspace," Kirby said.
"We are flying missions over Iraq," he said. "We coordinate with the Iraqi government as we conduct those. It is up to the Iraqi government to de-conflict that airspace. Nothing has changed about our policy of not coordinating military activity with the Iranians." "Our message to Iran is the same today as it was when it started and as it is to any neighbor in the region that is involved in anti-ISIL activities, and that is that we want nothing to be done that further inflames sectarian tensions in the country," Kirby said, referring to Iraq.
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