Iran Launches Air Raids Against I.S. Says U.S. Official

Iran Launches Air Raids Against I.S. Says U.S. Official

U.S. officials have suggested that Iran has launched an air offensive against Islamic State Targets based in Iraq. The alleged attacks have taken place in the last couple of days being the first attack by Iran’s military on I.S. militants.

United States officials declared anonymously that Iran has used its F-4 Phantoms to launch air raids against terrorists from the Islamic State group in the Iraqi city of Divala, close to the Iranian border.

Iraqi military personnel and security forces confirm the attacks, yet aren’t on the same page when it comes to the date, adding that the air raids took place 10 days ago. Both Iraqi and Iranian government officials deny the claims saying that no Iranian aircrafts have breached Iraqi airspace.

During a media briefing a Pentagon spokesperson declined to confirm or deny the reports or to supply any additional details on the possible air raids.

The border province of Divala has an ethnically mixed population which was under the control of Islamic State gunman before Iraqi military, Kurdish Peshmerga and Shi’ite militias managed to take back several village and towns in the region.

A British military analyst said that Al Jazeera televised footage of an F-4 Phantom fighter jet attacking the village of Divala. The only two countries in the region to possess F-4 Fighters are Turkey and Iran. According to the analyst due to Turkey reluctance to get involved in Middle East affairs and the proximity to Iranian borders it is a sure guess that the planes came from Iran.

Posted by James Fried on Saturday December 06 2014, 4:53 AM EDT. Ref: Reuters. Link. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News, World. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0