Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has said that 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq has caused formation of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant.

Iran is serious in fighting ISIL and considers the terrorist group a threat to all, he said in an interview with the New Yorker published on Friday.

“. . . Our position is that we help the legitimate governments in the region that have representation in the United Nations. We help the Iraqi government on their request through advisers; we help the Syrian government on their request to help with advisers to fight extremists. . . . So it’s both lawful and legitimate,” he said.

On what role Iran sees for President Assad during the six-month transition government, he said, “It’s not for us to decide what would be the role of anybody in the process. Nor is it the role of anybody else to decide.”

He also aid, “People have been fed misinformation. The fact is that the fighting that is going on on the ground in Syria is with Al Qaeda, with Jabhat al Nusra, with Daesh. The pockets, small pockets, of other groups are usually surrounded by these various extremist groups. . . . Once they stop fighting, there is nothing for the Syrian government to hit other than the terrorist organizations.”

Elsewhere, Zarif said that he senses a more “realistic tone coming out of Europe and the West in general” towards Syria.

“…Of course, there have been fluctuations in statements that come from Washington. The latest statements are rather promising. Of course, we believe that it was never up to Iran, the United States, Russia, or anybody else to decide the role of President Assad,” he said.

“I think we are making an assumption that that is the outcome of the negotiations. I think President Assad will be prepared to accept whatever the outcome of the intra-Syrian dialogue and the decision of the Syrian people is. But people are trying to decide and determine the outcome of the negotiation before even we agree to start the negotiations,” the Iranian chief diplomat said when asked whether Assad is prepared to step aside to facilitate peace.

Commenting on the position of Iran and Russia on the Syrian crisis, Zarif said, “Nobody thinks identically on Syria. But we share the same view with Russia that the future of the personalities in Syria will be determined by the people of Syria and not by people outside Syria.”

He added, “We try to coordinate regularly with Russia, as well as with others—except for the United States—on what is happening in the region. And we’re open to discussing with everybody the situation in Syria, because we believe it’s a common threat.”

On implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, he said, “We need to resolve still some political issues. . . . There are obligations on the other side that we have to make sure are implemented before we start the final stage of our implementation. . . . So once these are finalized, the practical measures that need to be implemented on our side will start. So I’m not saying two weeks from today. I’m saying two weeks from the time we settle all the difficulties.”

“I think the most important challenge that remains is this mentality in Washington that sanctions have been an asset, and some people want to find even an excuse to keep them or an excuse to reintroduce them. I don’t know whether they’ve looked at the record of how sanctions actually produce exactly the opposite of what they wanted to produce. . .,” he added.

Iran and the 5+1 group - the United States, Britain, France, China and Russia plus Germany - finalized the text of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in Vienna on July 14.

The JCPOA is set to go into effect as the UN nuclear watchdog approved a resolution on December 15 putting an end to claims of possible military dimensions (PMD) in Iran’s nuclear program.

Ali Akbar Salehi, head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, said on Saturday that Iran will ship nine tons of enriched uranium to Russia in future days.

“So far, 137 tons of yellow cake have been imported to Iran from Russia and we will export about nine tons of enriched uranium to Russia.”