Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif[/caption]New York, Sept 20, IRNA The US is not serious in fighting against terrorist groups including the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said.
Zarif made the remarks on Friday in an interview with the PBS News Hour's chief foreign affairs correspondent Margaret Warner.
When Warner asked why Iranian President Hassan Rouhani rebuffed overtures from the Obama administration to cooperate, Zarif said, Because we were not convinced that the United States government was serious."
He went on to criticize US plans approved this week by Congress to finance s0-called 'moderate'Syrian rebels in the fight against the extremists.
Zarif noted that the very forces the US is seeking to aid include elements of ISIL, along with other al-Qaida-linked fighters.
"If you undermine the central government in Syria, that would enable the ISIL terrorists to engage more effectively and to gain even more territory, he warned.
We see this as basically contradiction in terms of trying to defeat ISIL but at the same time funding those who are trying to undermine the very government that is withstanding terrorists.
By IRNA
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