BEIRUT — Syria’s foreign minister warned the U.S. today not to conduct airstrikes inside Syria against the Islamic State group without Damascus’ consent, saying any such attack would be considered a violation of sovereignty and an aggression.

But Walid al-Moallem also said Syria is ready to work with regional states and the international community amid the onslaught of Islamic militants there and in Iraq.

“Syria is ready to cooperate and coordinate on the regional and international level in the war on terror,” al-Moallem said. “But any effort to combat terrorism should come in coordination with the Syrian government.”

Al-Moallem’s remarks at a news conference in Damascus marked the first public comments by a senior Assad official on the threat posed by the Islamic State group, which has captured large swaths of Iraqi and Syrian territory.

His comments follow the capture by jihadis of a major military air base in northeastern Syria, eliminating the last government-held outpost in a province otherwise dominated by the Islamic State group.

The group has established a self-declared caliphate in areas straddling Iraq and Syria’s shared borders. The United States began airstrikes against the group in northern Iraq earlier this month, and is now considering similar strikes against the militants in Syria.