Pentagon: Iran launches Airstrikes Against Islamic State Targets (Updated)

Analysts said Al Jazeera footage showed an Iranian F4 Phantom jet over Iraq (Photo courtesy of Al Jazeera)

Iranian Airstrikes Target ISIS In Iraq -- New York Times

EHRAN — Iranian fighter jets conducted bombing raids against Sunni extremists in Iraq last week, hitting targets near a 25-mile buffer zone that Iran has declared along its border, an Iranian politician, American officials and independent analysts have confirmed.

The bombing raids, along with Iran’s support for Shiite and Kurdish militia forces on the ground, illustrate the increasingly open role Iran is playing in Iraq, officials say. But they do not mean Iran is interested in cooperating directly with the United States, they say, even though they are fighting the same enemy and have some of the same allies.

The attacks on positions held by the militant Islamic State forces took place around the end of November in Diyala Province, where the battle front is closest to Iranian territory, according to the Iranian politician, Hamid Reza Taraghi.

He also confirmed the existence of the buffer zone, whose existence he said was accepted by the Iraqi authorities some months ago.

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More News On The Pentagon Report That Iran Has Launched Airstrikes Against Islamic State Targets

Iran jets bomb Islamic State targets in Iraq - Pentagon -- BBC
U.S. believes Iran launched air raids on Islamic State in Iraq -- Reuters
Iran launches airstrikes into eastern Iraq against Islamic State militants -- FOX News/AP
Iranian jets join allies in the fight against Islamic State in Iraq -- The Telegraph
Recent Iran airstrikes in Iraq help drive Islamic State from 2 towns -- L.A. Times
Iran carries out airstrikes on Islamic State targets in Iraq -- Deutsche Welle
Pentagon Officials Believe Iran Attacked Islamic State Forces in Iraq -- WSJ
'Islamic State' presents indirect threat to Iran -- Deutsche Welle
Has Iran Launched Airstrikes Against the Islamic State in Iraq? -- John Beck, Vice

Update: Iranian Airstrikes on Islamic State in Iraq a Plus, Kerry Says -- Bloomberg