UNITED NATIONS: US Secretary of State John Kerry brought together 35 countries at the UN Security Council on Friday to build support for Iraq's new government and the campaign to confront jihadists.
The crisis triggered by the so-called "Islamic State" group's seizure of large tracts of Iraq and Syria has challenged countries that are often at loggerheads to confront a common enemy.
Washington's traditional foe Iran was represented by Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. US allies France, Britain, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar also sent senior representatives.
Kerry said the turnout showed "the clear need for all of us to come together, to welcome and to support the new inclusive government in Iraq and of course to put an end to ISIL's unfettered barbarity."
Washington insists it will not cooperate militarily with Iran, despite Tehran offering support to both Iraq and Syria in its battle against the Islamic State Group.
This week, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei claimed he had rejected a private approach from the United States suggesting cooperation on the battlefield.
US officials has not confirmed or denied making a request in private, but they do not regard Tehran as part of their coalition.
The Council adopted a statement condemning the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and expressing support for the new government of Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi.
"ISIL is a terrorist organization, pure and simple. It has no vision other than the slaughter of all who stand in its way," Kerry told the Council.
"In the face of this sort of evil, we have only one option: To confront it with a holistic, global campaign that is committed and capable of degrading and destroying this terrorist threat."
ISIL, which has since renamed itself the Islamic State, now controls large swathes of Iraq and Syria after a summer offensive.
The meeting at UN headquarters in new York opened as France, which opposed the 2003 Iraq war, joined the United States in a campaign of airstrikes against the Islamist fighters.
"Taking action against Iraq in 2003 divided this council, but in the very different context of 2014, taking action in support of Iraq and against the Daesh terrorists is a duty for us all," said French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, using the Arabic term for the group.
The statement urged the international community to help the new Iraqi government to "maintain security and combat terrorism and to create a safe, stable and prosperous future for the people of Iraq."
"Combating these terrorists in Iraq and preventing them from spreading evil is in everybody's interest," said Iraqi's new Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari.
- A role for Iran -
Obama is seeking to cobble together an international coalition to back his campaign to "degrade and defeat" the Islamic State group, but Iran has rejected the US request.
Kerry pointedly addressed Iran's position, saying "there is a role for nearly every country to play, including Iran."
"It is time to put an end to a group so extreme in its rejection of modernity that it bans math and social studies for children," he said.
"It's time to put an end to the sermons by extremists that brainwash young men to join these terrorist groups and commit mass atrocities in the name of God."
More than 50 countries have come forward with commitments as part of the anti-IS coalition including Egypt which has pledged to work closely with Kurdish and Iraqi forces, Kerry said.
The Security Council's show of solidarity with Iraq set the stage for talks next week during the General Assembly meeting at the United Nations that will be dominated by the jihadist threat in Iraq and Syria.
Obama is to host a summit on Wednesday at the United Nations on stemming the flow of foreign fighters to Iraq and Syria.
The council is due to adopt a resolution during that meeting calling on countries to adopt tough laws making it a serious crime to join the ranks of groups like the Islamic State and the Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Nusra Front in Syria. (AFP)
