US Informed Iran Ahead of ISIS Strikes in Syria

Syria: Iraq Keeping us Briefed on Fight

The Obama Administration provided advanced notice to the Iranian government of its intentions to attack ISIS targets in Syria last night.

According to Iranian officials, the US begin discussions on the planned attack at Geneva, and offered more specifics in New York to Iranian officials there for the UN General Assembly meeting.

Iran says their primary concern with the planned US attacks was the possibility of targeting the Syrian military as well as ISIS, though the US assured them that Assad would not be the target.

This marks the first time it was confirmed that the US has engaged in direct talks with Iraq on the ISIS war. The US has attempted to keep this more or less secret, ruling out any coordination with Iran or Syria on the war, even though they are both also fighting ISIS.

Syria has also been kept briefed on the US attacks, according to its state media, which says that Iraqi officials have been meeting with President Assad regularly on the matter.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.