The Guardian last week quoted deputy foreign minister Ebrahim Rahimpour as saying that Iran had conducted strikes against IS for "the defence of the interests of our friends in Iraq".
His remarks appeared to contradict the official position of Iran, which has not confirmed it carried out the attacks as reported by the Pentagon.
- Rahimpour on Tuesday however said he was misquoted, and that his remarks had been made in response to a question on possible airstrikes.
"My comments were misinterpreted," Rahimpour told AFP on the sidelines of an international conference in Tehran.
Iran has consistently denied having troops in Iraq, and was not invited to join a US-led military coalition against IS extremists, who have carved out a vast region of control in the country and in neighbouring Syria.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has said he had no knowledge of Iranian air strikes against IS in his country.AFP
http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/117530.aspx
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Iranian President Hassan Rouhani called Tuesday for a regional response to the threat posed by the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria rather than the deployment of troops from further afield...
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"In this case, there would be no need for the presence of foreigners," he added.
Iran is a key ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and has said it supports the Iraqi government in its fight against IS.
A US-led coalition, which includes five Arab states but not Iran, has carried out hundreds of airstrikes on IS, which controls swathes of Iraq and Syria....................http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/117551.aspx
9/12/14