Ambassador to Baghdad Hassan Danaeifar says Iran has not yet been invited to a conference in Paris on Monday to discuss how to tackle Islamic State (IS) militants, but it will make every effort to help improve security in Iraq.
"As far as I know, Iran has not received an invitation from France, but Iran will spare no effort to help boost the security of Iraq," Danaeifar told the Mehr news agency on Saturday.
France has said it is prepared to invite Iran to the international conference aimed at coordinating actions to knock out Islamic State extremists in Iraq, the Associated Press reported on Friday.
A French official helping to plan the conference says the only hitch is agreeing with partners, but added "we are not far from a consensus."
AP also quoted Danaeifar as saying on Friday Iran would be happy to participate in the Paris conference since it has a great interest in the stabilization of Iraq. He added Iran is prepared to offer any support to its neighbor and hopes the conference will yield successful results.
US Secretary of State John Kerry made the American position clear on Wednesday in Baghdad. "The United States does not cooperate, militarily or otherwise, nor does it have any intention in this process of doing so with Iran," he said.
Reuters also quoted Kerry as saying on Friday it was "not appropriate" for Iran to join talks on confronting IS militants.
"Under the circumstances, at this moment in time, it would not be right for any number of reasons. It would not be appropriate given the many other issues that are on the table in Syria and elsewhere," he told a news conference in the Turkish capital Ankara.