Iraq,Iran discuss need for global action against Islamic State

Iraqi’s new prime minister Haider al-Abadi and visiting Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Sunday discussed the need for international efforts to eliminate Islamic State,.

Islamic State is the group which has taken over large areas of Syria and Iraq.

Abadi’s office said in a statement the prime minister stressed the dangers Islamic State posed to the region. The advance of Islamic State through northern Iraq has alarmed the Baghdad government and its Western allies, drawing the first U.S. air strikes in Iraq since U.S. occupation forces pulled out in 2011.

The Sunni Muslim militant group sees Shi’ite Muslims as infidels who deserve to be killed and has driven thousands of non-Muslims from their homes.

Bombings across Iraq killed at least 35 people in attacks on Saturday that appeared to be revenge for an assault on a Sunni mosque that has deepened sectarian conflict.

Shi’ite Iran, a regional power broker, is likely to have influence over the formation of Iraq’s new Shi’ite-led government.

Iran has produced a new generation of short-range marine missiles and aerial drones, an official news agency reported on Sunday. 

The report said the Ghadir missile, with a range of 100 kilometres, is designed to destroy marine targets. It did not give a range for the Nasr-e Basir cruise missile, but said it could ‘operate in silence,’ without elaborating. 

Iran has unveiled two new drones, the high-altitude Karrar-4 and the Mohajer-4. The latter can be used to generate maps for both military and civilian purposes, the official news agency IRNA said. 

Iran launched a homegrown defence industry in 1992 that produces light and heavy weapons ranging from mortars to tanks and submarines.