At a press conference on Saturday in Tehran president Hasan Rohani has said Iran could contemplate cooperating with the United States on restoring security to Iraq if it saw Washington confronting 'terrorist groups in Iraq and elsewhere.'
'We all should practically and verbally confront terrorist groups,' he told a press conference broadcast live on state television.
Asked if Tehran would work with its old adversary the United States in tackling advances by Sunni insurgents in Iraq, he replied: 'We can think about if we see America starts confronting the terrorist groups in Iraq or elsewhere.'
Iran stands ready to provide help to Iraq's government in its fight against Sunni insurgents within the framework of international law, Rouhani said, adding that so far Baghdad had not requested assistance
09.35
Good morning and welcome to our live blog on the crisis in Iraq, where troops are battling ISIS militants who have taken control of swathes of the country's north and are currently pushing south towards Baghdad.
Iran is moving to stop the ISIS from capturing the capital and the provinces immediately to the north of Baghdad.
ISIS, which was formely al-Qaeda in Iraq, has a complicated relationship with al-Qaeda itself, made more difficult by its decision to operate in Iraq against al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri's wishes.
For more details on this al-Qaeda offshoot and others, from Boko Haram to al-Shabaab, take a look at our interactive graphic.
Entities 0 Name: Iraq Count: 8 1 Name: Iran Count: 3 2 Name: Baghdad Count: 3 3 Name: ISIS Count: 3 4 Name: United States Count: 2 5 Name: Tehran Count: 2 6 Name: Hasan Rohani Count: 1 7 Name: Washington Count: 1 8 Name: Rouhani Count: 1 9 Name: Ayman al-Zawahiri Count: 1 10 Name: America Count: 1 11 Name: Boko Haram Count: 1 Related 0 Url: http://ift.tt/1ptlPXk Title: Iran intelligence minister blames Israel, US for Iraq crisis Description: Fighters of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) stand guard at a checkpoint in the northern Iraq city of Mosul, June 11, 2014. Photo: REUTERS WASHINGTON -- Iranian deputy minister of intelligence Hojjat al-Eslam Ali Khazaei says terrorists supported "by Israel and America" are responsible for the fall of Mosul, Iraq, to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
