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| U.S. and Iran Signaling New Joint Effort in Iraq Crisis | U.S. and Iran Signaling New Joint Effort in Iraq Crisis |
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| The United States and Iran on Monday signaled increased willingness to work together to arrest the expanding Sunni insurgency in Iraq, with Secretary of State John Kerry openly suggesting such a collaboration would be constructive and another American official saying the subject could come up at talks this week on the Iranian nuclear dispute. | The United States and Iran on Monday signaled increased willingness to work together to arrest the expanding Sunni insurgency in Iraq, with Secretary of State John Kerry openly suggesting such a collaboration would be constructive and another American official saying the subject could come up at talks this week on the Iranian nuclear dispute. |
| Cooperation between the United States and Iran to contain the Iraqi crisis would represent the first time the two countries — estranged adversaries for more than three decades — have jointly undertaken a common security purpose since they shared military intelligence to counter the Taliban in Afghanistan in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks 13 years ago. | Cooperation between the United States and Iran to contain the Iraqi crisis would represent the first time the two countries — estranged adversaries for more than three decades — have jointly undertaken a common security purpose since they shared military intelligence to counter the Taliban in Afghanistan in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks 13 years ago. |
| Mr. Kerry, in an interview with Yahoo News, called the advance by insurgents under the banner of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria over the past week an “existential threat” to Iraq and suggested American airstrikes were one possible answer. Asked if the United States would cooperate with Iran to thwart ISIS, Mr. Kerry said, “I wouldn’t rule out anything that would be constructive.” | Mr. Kerry, in an interview with Yahoo News, called the advance by insurgents under the banner of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria over the past week an “existential threat” to Iraq and suggested American airstrikes were one possible answer. Asked if the United States would cooperate with Iran to thwart ISIS, Mr. Kerry said, “I wouldn’t rule out anything that would be constructive.” |
| A senior Obama administration official said that Deputy Secretary of State William J. Burns may talk to the Iranians about Iraq at the nuclear talks, which are to reconvene on Wednesday in Vienna. “There may be discussion of that on the margins,” the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the evolving situation. | A senior Obama administration official said that Deputy Secretary of State William J. Burns may talk to the Iranians about Iraq at the nuclear talks, which are to reconvene on Wednesday in Vienna. “There may be discussion of that on the margins,” the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the evolving situation. |
| A State Department spokeswoman, Jen Psaki, later sought to more precisely define the nature of any cooperation, asserting it would be entirely political. “We believe the focus should be on encouraging Iraq’s leaders to govern in a non-sectarian way, and our discussion wouldn’t be about cooperating or coordinating on military goals,” she told reporters at a daily briefing. | |
| In Iran, a strong backer of the Shiite government in Iraq, top officials also signaled readiness to collaborate with the United States on containing a crisis in a neighbor that the Iranian government has partly blamed on the legacy of the American military’s eight-year war that ousted Saddam Hussein. President Hassan Rouhani of Iran has said he would welcome efforts by “all countries in combating terrorism.” | In Iran, a strong backer of the Shiite government in Iraq, top officials also signaled readiness to collaborate with the United States on containing a crisis in a neighbor that the Iranian government has partly blamed on the legacy of the American military’s eight-year war that ousted Saddam Hussein. President Hassan Rouhani of Iran has said he would welcome efforts by “all countries in combating terrorism.” |
| On Sunday, a key aide to Mr. Rouhani, Hamid Aboutalebi, wrote in a series of messages on his Persian Twitter account that only Iran and the United States are in a position to solve the Iraq crisis. | On Sunday, a key aide to Mr. Rouhani, Hamid Aboutalebi, wrote in a series of messages on his Persian Twitter account that only Iran and the United States are in a position to solve the Iraq crisis. |
| The conciliatory tone was noteworthy given that Mr. Aboutalebi, President Rouhani’s choice to be Iran’s new United Nations ambassador, was rejected by the United States earlier this year because of his indirect role as a translator for the militants who seized the American Embassy in Tehran in 1979, setting off the break in Iranian-American ties that has shaped the relationship ever since. | The conciliatory tone was noteworthy given that Mr. Aboutalebi, President Rouhani’s choice to be Iran’s new United Nations ambassador, was rejected by the United States earlier this year because of his indirect role as a translator for the militants who seized the American Embassy in Tehran in 1979, setting off the break in Iranian-American ties that has shaped the relationship ever since. |
| In the United States, the signs of American-Iranian cooperation on the Iraq crisis set off new rounds of recrimination over whether such a move was in Washington’s interest or a strategic mistake. | In the United States, the signs of American-Iranian cooperation on the Iraq crisis set off new rounds of recrimination over whether such a move was in Washington’s interest or a strategic mistake. |
| Trita Parsi, the president of the National Iranian American Council, a group that has promoted diplomacy with Iran and a peaceful resolution to the nuclear dispute, welcomed such cooperation. | Trita Parsi, the president of the National Iranian American Council, a group that has promoted diplomacy with Iran and a peaceful resolution to the nuclear dispute, welcomed such cooperation. |
| “The fact that Iran has signaled openness to U.S. strikes in Iraq shows that, contrary to conventional wisdom in Washington, Iran is either not seeking hegemony in the region and/or is incapable of materializing such a desire,” Mr. Parsi said in an email. “The scaremongering about Iran’s intents and capabilities are put in check by these recent events.” | “The fact that Iran has signaled openness to U.S. strikes in Iraq shows that, contrary to conventional wisdom in Washington, Iran is either not seeking hegemony in the region and/or is incapable of materializing such a desire,” Mr. Parsi said in an email. “The scaremongering about Iran’s intents and capabilities are put in check by these recent events.” |
| Vocal American critics of Iran’s government, on the other hand, castigated the Obama administration for even considering a collaboration with Iran on the Iraq crisis, calling it a blunder that Iran would seek to exploit for its own ends in the nuclear talks. Iran is negotiating with world powers, including the United States, which want guarantees that the Iranian nuclear program is peaceful. A temporary accord in that dispute is set to expire on July 20. | Vocal American critics of Iran’s government, on the other hand, castigated the Obama administration for even considering a collaboration with Iran on the Iraq crisis, calling it a blunder that Iran would seek to exploit for its own ends in the nuclear talks. Iran is negotiating with world powers, including the United States, which want guarantees that the Iranian nuclear program is peaceful. A temporary accord in that dispute is set to expire on July 20. |
| “Iran helped turn both Syria and Iraq into a jihadist inferno, which threatens American security, and now is positioning itself as the firewall against the very violence it created,” said Mark Dubowitz, executive director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a Washington-based group that has advocated strong sanctions against Iran over the nuclear issue. “The White House keeps granting Iran strategic openings that Tehran is converting into greater levels of negotiating leverage and nuclear intransigence.” | “Iran helped turn both Syria and Iraq into a jihadist inferno, which threatens American security, and now is positioning itself as the firewall against the very violence it created,” said Mark Dubowitz, executive director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a Washington-based group that has advocated strong sanctions against Iran over the nuclear issue. “The White House keeps granting Iran strategic openings that Tehran is converting into greater levels of negotiating leverage and nuclear intransigence.” |