The US on Monday held informal discussions with Iran about the crisis in Iraq but ruled out military co-operation to push back the recent territorial gains by Sunni insurgents.
At the start of crucial nuclear negotiations that resumed on Monday in Vienna, a senior US official said that the issue “did come up briefly” on the margins of the talks, which were attended by both US deputy secretary of state William Burns and Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif.
Iranian leaders have also signalled they are willing to discuss Iraq with the US and some hope the US will help defeat the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (known as Isis), the Sunni insurgents who have taken control over a string of towns in northwestern Iraq over the past week.