US Decision to Form Anti-IS Coalition Taken Too Late: Iraqi FM

The United States missed the right moment to form the coalition against the Islamic State. In its turn, Iran provided "financial, consulting and informational support” to Iraq from the early days of the IS offensive.

TEHRAN, December 9 (Sputnik) — The United States’ decision to form an international coalition to battle the Islamic State (IS) militant group was taken too late, Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim Jaafari told Sputnik in the Iranian capital on Tuesday.

The minister said that the IS poses a threat to the Middle East and to the whole world, but the intervention of the United States and its allies to the conflict with Islamic extremists was “belated”.

Jaafari said that Iran rushed to help Iraq fight against IS well before the US-led coalition and provided "financial, consulting and informational support” from the early days of the IS offensive.

The Iraqi Foreign Minister arrived in Tehran on Monday to take part in the World Against Violence and Extremism conference. Delegations from over 40 countries took part in the event, aimed at boosting regional and international cooperation to combat global terrorism.

The Islamic State is a Sunni terrorist group that has been fighting the Syrian government since 2012. In June 2014, it proclaimed an Islamic caliphate on the territories it had seized across Iraq and Syria. In response, Washington launched airstrikes against the insurgents in Iraq in August, extending them to Syria the following month.

To fight insurgency in the Middle East, the United States has created a large international coalition, involving over 60 allies of Washington. Russia has declined to participate in any coalition established bypassing the UN Security Council.

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