Airstrikes against Islamic State 'a form of theater,' says Iran's president

NEW YORK, Sept. 29 (UPI) -- Iranian President Hassan Rouhani described the U.S.-led airstrikes against the Islamic State as "a form of theater" during an interview that aired Friday.

"We need a vast campaign of operations ... the aerial bombardment campaign is mostly, I would say, a form of theater, rather than a serious battle against terrorism," Rouhani told CNN's Christian Amanpour.

IS, also known as ISIS or ISIL, "is a common threat for all of us," said the leader of a country whose foreign policies are rarely in line with America's.

Iran has deployed its Revolutionary Guard units to Iraq, including IRGC Maj. Gen. Qassem Suleimani.

Rouhani said that while countering IS "requires a unison effort from all of us," he won't acknowledge Iran as part of the U.S.-led international coalition.

Many countries in the coalition have also voiced opposition to the strongman leadership of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whom the United Nations has said is responsible for killing 200,000 of his own citizens during the three-year-old civil war.

But Iran has been and appears to remain a staunch supporter of Assad. When asked by Amanpour "Why does Iran want to be associated with that kind of genocidal barbarism," Rouhani responded by calling the opposition "terrorists." He claimed that if the Syrian government's army had not responded forcibly to the uprising, "The victor would have been the same people that everyone is recognizing as terrorists today."

Rouhani's perspective is at odds with U.S. President Barack Obama, who has said the ongoing Syrian civil war was responsible for creating a safe haven inside the embattled country for extremists such as the Islamic State.