Iran to share intelligence with Australia in fight against IS
Iran will share secret intelligence gathered by operatives fighting Islamic State extremists in Iraq with Australia, in what many are calling an unprecedented move.
Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop announced the co-operation after a meeting with Iran's President Hassan Rouhani, Fairfax Media reported.
The agreement to share intelligence with a country with a close relationship with the US is almost unheard of, especially during the George Bush 'axis of evil' era of politics in America.
The announcement came during the first high level Australian diplomatic visit to Iran in ten years.
Over the weekend, Afghanistan also announced plans for enhanced security cooperation to combat threats from the Islamic State group, including possible joint military operations with Iran.
Standing alongside visiting Afghan leader Ashraf Ghani, Rouhani said the tumult hitting the region meant intelligence must be shared.
His comments came after IS, which holds swathes of Syria and Iraq, said it was responsible for a suicide bombing in Afghanistan's eastern city of Jalalabad which killed 33 people.
The attack on Saturday at a state-owned bank where government workers were drawing their salaries was the first in Afghanistan claimed by IS. More than 100 people were also wounded.
Ghani's two-day visit to Iran is his first since taking over from president Hamid Karzai in September, and he was accompanied on the trip by his foreign minister and minister for oil and mines.
The Afghan leader has repeatedly raised the prospect of IS making inroads in his country, though the jihadist group has never formally acknowledged having a presence in Afghanistan.
A former finance minister and World Bank technocrat, Ghani said IS presented "a serious danger and different form of terrorism".
"People die daily, we face barbarism," he said at a joint press conference, prompting Rouhani to nod in agreement.
Meanwhile, Ms Bishop has given an upbeat assessment of Iran's approach to negotiations to rein in its nuclear program.
Ms Bishop, who travelled to Iran for the first high-level talks between Australia and Iran in more than decade, met with Rouhani yesterday.
She said the meeting was long and constructive, adding that Mr Rouhani was very optimistic the framework deal struck weeks ago could be turned into a final detailed agreement by the end of June.
Ms Bishop said she believed the deal, which has been criticised by Israel, was balanced.
Under the framework agreement, Iran agreed to significantly reduce the number of installed uranium enrichment centrifuges it has to 6,104 from 19,000 and will only operate 5,060 under a future comprehensive nuclear deal.
In return, it will gradually receive relief from US and European Union nuclear sanctions as it demonstrates compliance with a future comprehensive nuclear agreement, which Iran and six world powers aim to conclude by June 30.
The framework deal is also controversial in some hardline quarters in Tehran.
Ms Bishop said Mr Rouhani's optimism was fuelled by his view that there has been goodwill in the negotiations with world powers and an appropriate degree of give and take.
