Washington: Iran can play a role in fighting 'the Jihadist threat'

Iran has a role to play in fighting ISIS, US Secretary of State John Kerry said.

“The fact is there is a role for nearly every country in the world to play, including Iran,” Kerry said, addressing a United Nations Security Council meeting in New York on Friday.

In the Security Council meeting of 35 countries that form the global anti-ISIS coalition, Kerry said the turnout showed “the clear need for all of us to come together, to welcome and to support the new inclusive government in Iraq and of course to put an end to ISIL’s unfettered barbarity.”

Kerry’s statement comes as part of his efforts to rally international support for his alliance against ISIS, the extremist militant group which has seized large swathes of Iraq and Syria.

The Supreme Shia leader in Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, had announced earlier that he turned down an American request to cooperate in its fight against ISIS. However, US officials have not confirmed or denied the reports, although Iran is not considered part of the current alliance.

“ISIL is a terrorist organization, pure and simple. It has no vision other than the slaughter of all who stand in its way,” Kerry told the security council.

“In the face of this sort of evil, we have only one option: to confront it with a holistic, global campaign that is committed and capable of degrading and destroying this terrorist threat.”