Secretary of State John Kerry on Wednesday denied that the administration is holding back in the fight against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in order to secure a nuclear deal with Iran.
“There is no grand bargain here being discussed here in the context of this negotiation,” Kerry said at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing.
{mosads}”This is about a nuclear weapon potential. That’s it. And the president has made it absolutely clear, they will not get a nuclear weapon.”
Kerry’s comments were in response to Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) who questioned if the U.S. strategy against ISIS had taken a back seat to the nuclear talks.
“I believe our military strategy against ISIS is influenced by our desire not cross red lines that the Iranians have about military presence in the region,” Rubio said.
Critics of the administration have worried about the possibility that Iran could seek greater influence in the region, in particular Iraq, in exchange for a deal curbing its nuclear program.
Forces from majority-Shiite Iran are playing a greater role helping Iraqi troops fight ISIS, including a current offensive in the city of Tikrit. And Iran has been a strong backer of Iraq’s Shiite-dominated government.
But Kerry dismissed Rubio’s suggestion in a heated exchange, saying that Iran would actually “welcome” additional bombing of ISIS in Iraq.
“They want us to destroy ISIS,” he said. “They’re not going to object.
“They’re not going to come out and openly support it and they obviously would be nervous about it. They’re not going to object if that [is] what it is.”
Defense officials also worry Iran’s involvement could spark a backlash from Iraq’s sizeable Sunni population. Sunni discontent with Iraq’s Shiite-dominated government led to sectarian violence and contributed to ISIS’s emergence in the country.
Later in the hearing, Defense Secretary Ash Carter said Iran’s role in Iraq “is something that we’re watching very closely,” adding that it could lead to the unraveling of efforts against ISIS.
“It is something that is concerning to us, in particular because the sectarian danger in Iran is the principle thing that can unravel the campaign against ISIS,” Carter said at a Pentagon briefing.
“It’s important that sectarianism not rear its ugly head as ISIL is pushed back outside of Iraq,” he said using an alternate name for the terror group.