Russian embassy in Iraq denies role in any anti-ISIS ‘coordination cell’ based in Baghdad

The Russian embassy in Iraq has denied reports that Russian military personnel are participating in the creation of a new anti-ISIS "coordination cell" based in Baghdad that supposedly includes Syrian and Iraqi army commanders. 

“This is the first we're hearing of this, but the fact that the American media is reporting such information comes as no surprise,” Russia's embassy in Iraq said in a press release.

On September 25, 2015, Fox News reported that "Russian, Syrian, and Iranian military commanders have set up a coordination cell in Baghdad in recent days to try to begin working with Iranian-backed Shia militias fighting the Islamic State." 

Russia has advocated the creation of a broad coalition to fight ISIS, arguing (against Washington's policy in the region) that the Syrian Army is the most effective and capable armed force available to defeat ISIS. Moscow is a long-time ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whose regime Russia currently supplies with weapons.