The WSJ reports, "the U.S. won't take coordinated military action with Iran as part of a broader effort to stem escalating violence in Iraq", the White House said on Monday.
"Any conversation with the Iranian regime will not include military coordination," White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters traveling with President Barack Obama on Air Force One. "We're not interested in any effort to coordinate military activity with Iran."
The Pentagon also said Monday it had no intention of coordinating a military response to the crisis in Iraq with Iran or its military forces, a position that appeared to vary from earlier comments by Secretary of State John Kerry.
Mr. Kerry said in an interview airing Monday that the U.S. was open to talks with Iran on the Iraq crisis, and that he wouldn't rule out the possibility of military cooperation between the two longtime adversaries.
"There is absolutely no intention, no plan to coordinate military activities between the United States and Iran," Adm. Kirby the Pentagon press secretary said, adding that they agreed that conversations on the sidelines of international talks over Iran's nuclear program would be appropriate.
