BICOM

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday said that the United States should not work alongside Iran to stop the advance of ISIS in Iraq, warning that both are enemies of Washington.

The Sunni Jihadist group ISIS, which has fought the Assad regime in Syria for some time, has recently turned its attention to neighbouring Iraq, making significant military gains and forcing many Iraqis to flee their homes. The sudden success of ISIS has raised concerns in both Washington, which is keen to see democracy thrive in Iraq and Tehran, which views the government of Nouri al-Maliki in Baghdad as a fellow Shi’ite ally.

As a result, there has been speculation that the United States could coordinate a response with Iran. Last week, US President Obama said that Iran could potentially play a constructive role in Iraq. The situation in Iraq was reportedly discussed informally by United States and Iranian officials on the sidelines of nuclear talks in Vienna last week. However, the Independent this morning says that some US officials fear Iran will use the instability in Iraq to leverage a more favourable nuclear deal.

Yesterday, speaking to NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Netanyahu cautioned against US-Iran cooperation. He said that the fighting in both Iraq and Syria is “the stark hatreds between radical Shiites, in this case led by Iran, and radical Sunnis led by Al-Qaeda and ISIS and others.” He explained unequivocally, “both of these camps are enemies of the United States” and advised “when your enemies are fighting each other, don’t strengthen either one of them; weaken both.”

Also yesterday, it was reported that ISIS has made further military gains, including the Turaibil border crossing between Iraq and Jordan. Reuters says that Jordan has mobilised tens of military units in the area in response. Jordan is a close strategic ally of the United States and has enjoyed largely warm relations with neighbouring Israel since the two countries signed a peace treaty in 1994.