[caption id="attachment_119252" align="alignright" width="180"] State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki[/caption]

WASHINGTON – The US military will not take part in the liberation of Tikrit due to the participation of Iranian forces and advisors, a Washington official has said.

“United States will not be involved in offensive operations against ISIS militants in Iraq that Iranian forces are part of,” Jen Psaki, spokesperson to the US State Department, told a Rudaw reporter on Monday.

According to Psaki, the US has no direct role in the current military offensive to recapture Tikrit, the administrative center of Salahaddin governorate, an ongoing battle that is now in its ninth day.

Numerous photos have documented the participation of Iranian troops, including Iranian General Qassim Sulaimani, commander of Iran’s Quds force, who are backing Shiite militant groups in Tikrit.

By Rudaw