Addressing the United Nations General Assembly, British Prime Minister David Cameron announced the British Parliament will meet Friday to vote on joining the U.S.-led military strikes in Syria and Iraq. Cameron also called on Iran to play a role in confronting the Islamic State.
British Prime Minister David Cameron: “Iran’s leaders could help in defeating the threat from ISIL. They could help secure a more stable, inclusive Iraq and a more stable and inclusive Syria. And if they are prepared to do this, then we should welcome their engagement. … It is right that Britain should now move to a new phase of action. I am therefore recalling the British Parliament on Friday to secure approval for the United Kingdom to take part in international airstrikes against ISIL in Iraq.”
Friday’s parliamentary vote comes one year after British lawmakers rejected Cameron’s bid for a different bombing campaign in Syria — the failed U.S. effort to attack the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. Cameron was speaking after meeting with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, the first such meeting between Iran and Britain since the 1979 Iranian Revolution.