Iraq, Iran, Syria agree on further anti-terror intelligence coordination

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – The military chiefs-of-staff of Iraq, Iran and Syria have agreed to develop the intelligence coordination center, which groups the three Middle East countries alongside Russia, during their meeting in Damascus, an Iraqi military spokesman said on Tuesday.

“The tripartite meetings of the military chiefs-of-staff of Iraq, Syria and Iran were positive and very successful,” Almaalomah news website quoted spokesman for Iraq’s Joint Operations Command Brigadier General Yahya Rasoul as saying.

He pointed out that the meetings came up with “an agreement to coordinate joint action to secure the Iraqi-Syrian border and continue intelligence exchange.”

“The coming period will see an increase in coordination between the Iraqi and Syrian armies to prevent the infiltration of Islamic State militants,” he said, noting that the military leaders agreed to develop the center of exchange intelligence between Syria, Iraq, Iran and Russia to increase coordination with regard to the anti-terror war.

On Monday, Iraqi army chief-of-staff Lieutenant General Othman al-Ghanmi said that the border crossing between Syria and Iraq will open in the coming days, a step which is expected to help increase the volume of trade exchange between the two Arab neighbors.

Speaking at a press conference in Damascus, Ghanmi highlighted high-level coordination “between the Syrian and Iraqi armies to face terrorism,” stressing that Syria’s security is part and parcel of Iraq’s security.