俄羅斯與伊拉克簽署情報共享協議

Iraq announced on Sunday that it had signed an agreement to exchange intelligence with Russia, the latest sign of Moscow’s increasingly ambitious intervention into the fight against Isis.

支持政府的抗議者在大馬士革的俄羅斯使館外手舉敘利亞總統巴沙爾·阿薩德和俄羅斯總統普京的照片

Under the new agreement, which also includes Syria and Iran, the Iraqi military said the four countries would share information about the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Isis).

伊拉克上週日宣佈，已與俄羅斯簽署一項情報交換協議，這一最新跡象表明俄羅斯干預打擊“伊拉克和黎凡特伊斯蘭國” (ISIS)行動的願望越來越強烈。

As well increasing the role of Russia in the fight against Isis, the agreement also serves to put the US — which has been conducting joint military operations with Iraq against Isis — on the back-foot.

根據這項最新協議（還包括敘利亞和伊朗），伊拉克軍方表示，4國將分享有關Isis的情報信息。

A senior US official later said that Mr Kerry did not discuss the new Iraq-Russia agreement when he met on Sunday with Sergei Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister.

該協議將增強俄羅斯在打擊Isis戰爭中的作用，還會讓美國處於被動，美國一直在與伊拉克聯合發動打擊Isis的軍事行動。

While the exact nature of the new agreement between Baghdad and Moscow remains unclear, its announcement will probably accelerate criticism in the US and some parts of the region that the Obama administration is seeing its influence over events in the Middle East decline, especially as Russia seeks to play a more decisive role.

儘管伊拉克與俄羅斯達成的這項最新協議的具體內容尚不清楚，但這一聲明可能會加大美國和該地區其他國家關於奧巴馬政府對於中東形勢的影響力正在下滑的批評，特別是在俄羅斯希望發揮更決定性作用之際。

Two foreign diplomats in Moscow said it was a mistake to view Russia and Iran as the closest allies in the Syria conflict because their interests were diverging as well.

莫斯科兩位外交官表示，把俄羅斯和伊朗視爲在敘利亞的最親密盟友是錯誤的，因爲兩國的利益不同。

However, Moscow has been working with Iran and Iraq in certain areas. The Russian military has conducted most of its recent build-up in Syria through Iraqi airspace after other countries closed theirs to its military aircraft at the request of the US.

然而，俄羅斯一直在一些領域與伊朗和伊拉克合作。俄羅斯軍方最近在敘利亞的增兵多數是通過伊拉克領空完成的，此前其他國家應美國要求向俄羅斯軍用飛機關閉了領空。

Moreover, Qassem Soleimani, the leader of the Quds Force, the foreign arm of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps, who has been supporting Shia militias fighting Isis in Iraq, held talks in Moscow last month, a visit which sparked US protest, since he is subject to a UN travel ban.

另外伊朗伊斯蘭革命衛隊(Revolutionary Guards Corps)下屬“聖城軍”(Quds Force)指揮官卡西姆蘇萊曼尼(Qassem Soleimani)一直支持什葉派(Shia)武裝力量在伊拉克打擊Isis，他上月在莫斯科與俄羅斯舉行會談，此次訪問招致美國的反對，因爲他是聯合國(UN)旅行禁令的對象。