Russia Creating Anti-IS Coordination Center with Syria, Iraq, Iran

Russia, Syria, Iraq, and Iran are setting up a "coordination center" to act more efficiently against the Islamic State (IS) group, RT has reported citing a "military diplomatic source".

The four countries "have adopted the decision to open in Baghdad an information center where representatives of the General Staffs of these states [will be]," Russia Today's Russian-language version quotes the source as saying.

Moscow has been bolstering its presence in Syria in the past month. Western states assume it is increasing its military presence to help its embattled ally, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, tackle IS offensives.

The new coordination center will collect, process, summarize and analyze "current information about the environment in the Middle Eastern region in the context of the fight against Islamic State".

A military officer from each country will head the structure on a rotating basis.

The source has described the center as "an important step on the road to uniting the efforts of countries in the region in the fight against international terrorism and, in the first place, against Islamic State)".