(VOVworld) - Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Monday said his country has rejected a US request to coordinate efforts to combat the self-declared Islamic State (IS) within the framework of an international coalition.

IS was redeploying troops to its controlled areas in Syria to avoid possible air strikes from the international coalition.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif rejected a similar offer from his US counterpart John Kerry. Seen from Iran, which has helped both Syria and Iraq to confront IS advances, the international coalition aims to change the regime in Syria because some of its members had financed and armed the group as part of their campaign to bring down Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Meanwhile, sources from the Middle East revealed that IS has moved tanks from its bases in Syrian’s Aleppo and Raqqa province to safer areas. Lebanon’s al-Manar television said IS was redeploying troops to its controlled areas in Syria to avoid possible air strikes from the international coalition.