Iraq Shiite Chief Sees No Change in Turkey Stance on IS

Hadi al-Ameri, a top leader of Iraq's powerful Shiite paramilitaries, argued Monday there was no evidence Turkey had changed its position on the Islamic State jihadist group.

"I think (the strikes) Turkey carried out were to support to Daesh (IS) and not what some had imagined," said Ameri, a top leader of the Hashed al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization) force.

Ameri was speaking after a meeting in Baghdad between Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari and his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif.

A senior U.S. official said Monday that Washington and Ankara had agreed to work together to create an IS-free zone along Turkey's border with northern Syria.

But as Turkey launched its first air strikes against IS on Friday, it also struck multiple positions held by Kurdish groups spearheading the fight against the jihadists in Syria and Iraq.

A military commitment against IS by Turkey, which has long been accused of covertly supporting the jihadists, is seen as a potential game-changer in the war against IS.

Ameri, whose Hashed forces have also been a key component of the anti-IS war in Iraq, said the raids against the PKK Turkish Kurdish rebels in Iraq showed there was no U-turn from Ankara.

"Turkey has not changed its stance; it carried out operations against the PKK, which is fighting with the Kurds against Daesh in Syria," he said.

"Turkey still supports IS right now," he said.

Before his meetings in Baghdad, Zarif traveled to the holy city of Najaf to brief Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani -- the most revered Shiite cleric in Iraq -- on the nuclear deal Iran sealed with Western powers earlier this month.

Zarif has been on a tour of the region, including Kuwait and Qatar, aimed at easing concern among Gulf nations over the nuclear deal, which should see a gradual easing of crippling economic sanctions on Tehran.