Ukraine in Arabic | David Cameron to meet Iran’s President to discuss Isis threat
KYIV/Ukraine in Arabic/ David Cameron is set to take part in historic talks with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani over how to smash the Islamic State.
The meeting with President Hassan Rouhani will take place on the fringes of the UN General Assembly in New York as part of attempts by Britain and the US to bring together as broad a coalition as possible in the fight against Isis militants in Iraq and Syria. However, the meeting will cause dismay in Israel as well as Sunni countries in the Gulf as it will be seen as a proxy for talks between President Rouhani and the US administration.
Meanwhile, the UK government said it had not joined Syria strikes "yet".
Shadow business secretary Chuka Umunna said should Labour be asked to consider the case for action, it would apply the same criteria it did when asked about British military intervention against the Syrian regime, which was rejected by MPs last year.
But Mr. Umunna told BBC Radio 4's Today he thought the public made a distinction between the threat posed by IS and that of Syria.
"This is not a party political issue," he said. "IS need to be eliminated. They are an evil organization."
Mr. Cameron and Mr. Rouhani spoke by phone in November, but the talks later will be their first face-to-face meeting.
The PM was likely to set out "direction and options" during his speech at the United Nations' headquarters in New York, a government source told BBC News.
Nuclear 'trade-off'
Mr. Cameron is also likely to press Mr. Rouhani to withdraw support for the Assad regime in Syria - a "hard sell", our correspondent added.
He said Iranian officials in the US had raised the possibility of a "trade-off" under which Iran could get concessions on advancing its nuclear program in exchange for "further action" against IS - though the US has said the two issues are entirely separate.
Not ruled out
The US has been carrying out air strikes against IS militants in Iraq since August, and the Pentagon has now announced similar action in Syria.
Rear Adm John Kirby said: "I can confirm that US military and partner nation forces are undertaking military action against Isil terrorists in Syria using a mix of fighter, bomber and Tomahawk land attack missiles."
Asked if the UK was one of those "partner" nations, a Ministry of Defence spokeswoman told the BBC: "The UK has not committed anything yet. Conversations are ongoing.
"There might potentially be an update in the coming days. We have not ruled ourselves out."
Labour deputy leader Harriet Harman said it was "very encouraging that other Arab states are joining in... because they are the most immediately affected".
She told BBC News: "Islamic State needs to be contained... They can't be allowed to just grow and grow and grow and expand their territory."
Jihadist group IS, also referred to as Isil and Isis, has taken control of large areas of Iraq and Syria in recent months.
