US President Barack Obama considered options for military action to support Iraq's besieged government on Monday, and US and Iranian officials held talks to stabilize the region, Reuters reports.
Obama, who discussed the crisis with his top national security advisers on Monday evening, has made US action contingent on Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's taking steps to broaden his Shia-dominated government.
“The president will continue to consult with his national security team in the days to come,” the White House said, without elaborating.
Among those attending the meeting were US Secretary of State John Kerry, Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel, CIA Director John Brennan and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Martin Dempsey.
Militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant group have routed Baghdad's army and seized the north of the country in the past week, threatening to dismember Iraq and unleash all-out sectarian warfare with no regard for national borders.
The fighters have been joined by other armed Sunni groups that oppose what they say is oppression by Maliki. The UN human rights chief said forces allied with ISIL had almost certainly committed war crimes by executing hundreds of non-combatant men in Iraq over the past five days.
US and Iranian officials discussed the crisis in Vienna on the sidelines of separate negotiations about the Iranian nuclear program, the two sides each said. Both ruled out military cooperation.
A US official said the talks did not include military coordination and would not make "strategic determinations" over the heads of Iraqis.
