Senior Iranian general killed in Iraq during ISIS fight

TEHRAN, Iran - Iran's Revolutionary Guard says one of its senior commanders was killed during a battle against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) extremist group in Iraq.

The Guard said in an online statement Sunday that Brig. Gen. Hamid Taqavi was "martyred while performing his advisory mission to confront ISIS terrorists in Samarra."

Taqavi is believed to be the highest-ranking Iranian military officer to have been killed in Iraq while battling ISIS, which captured large parts of northern and western Iraq earlier this year.

The Guard said Taqavi was assisting Iraqi troops and Shiite volunteers defending Samarra, a city north of Baghdad which is home to a major Shiite shrine. It said a funeral procession will be held in Tehran on Monday.

Iran has been supporting the Iraqi government with military advisers and weapons since the start of the ISIS insurgency. Iran claims it has rejected U.S. overtures to cooperate in the fight against ISIS' rise.

The Iranian air force has been known to be using American-made F-4 Phantom jets purchased during the time of the Shah to bomb positions held by ISIS in eastern Iraq, CBS News correspondent David Martin reports.

The United States is aware of the strikes in Diyala province, which are flown in support of Iraqi ground troops, but there's no coordination going on and none is needed, Martin reports.

The air space is controlled by Iraq, so Iraqi authorities are in charge of traffic control. Diyala is northeast of Baghdad in a part of the country where the U.S. is not operating.