Iraq Confirms That It Will Work With Syria, Iran, And Russia To Combat The Islamic State

Al Jazeera: Iraq, Russia, Iran and Syria coordinate against ISIL

While Iraq has officially announced it is sharing intelligence with Russia, Syria and Iran, the cooperation is not new.

The Iraqi military has officially announced it is to begin sharing "security and intelligence" information with Russia, Syria and Iran to help combat the advances of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group.

A statement issued by the Iraqi Joint Operations Command said the countries would "help and cooperate in collecting information about the terrorist Daesh group (using the Arabic acronym for ISIL)."

"It's a committee coordinating between the four countries, with representatives of each country, in the field of military intelligence and aimed at sharing and analysing information," Saad al-Hadithi, a spokesman for
Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi's office, told the AFP news agency.

WNU Editor: This is a de facto alliance that freezes out the U.S. and its Gulf allies. The only player missing in this alliance is China, and I will not be surprised if they are included in the weeks/months to come.

More News On Iraq Confirming That It Will Work With Syria, Iran, And Russia To Combat The Islamic State

Iraq says Russia, Iran, Syria cooperating on security issues in Baghdad -- Reuters
Iraq to share intelligence on IS with Russia, Iran and Syria -- AP
Iraq steps up anti-IS coordination with Iran, Syria, Russia -- AFP
Iraq agrees to share intelligence with Russia, Iran and Syria -- CNN
Iraq cooperating with Russia, Iran and Syria to counter 'Islamic State' -- Deutsche Welle
Iraq Cooperating With Russia, Iran, Syria On Security Issues -- Radio Free Europe
Russia, Iran, Iraq, Syria pool intelligence on Islamic State -- Times of Israel

Update: U.S. Secretary of State Kerry appears to be out of the loop .... Kerry says fight against Islamic State needs to be coordinated (Reuters)