Obama rules out sending troops, Iran offers to join US in Iraq war
BAGHDAD, June 14, 2014 (AFP) -Shiite Iran offered today to consider working with longtime foe Washington if it takes the lead in helping repel Sunni Arab militants who have seized a swathe of northern Iraq.
The offer came as Iraqi commanders said soldiers had recaptured two towns north of Baghdad as they prepared a fightback, bolstered by thousands of Shiite volunteers who answered a call to arms by top cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali alSistani.
Prime Minister Nuri alMaliki visited the besieged shrine city of Samarra north of the capital Friday to rally troops and pray at the Al-Askari mausoleum, a revered Shiite shrine whose 2006 bombing by Al-Qaeda sparked sectarian conflict that killed tens of thousands.
President Barack Obama said he was "looking at all the options" to halt the offensive that has brought jihadist-led militants within 50 miles (80 kilometres) of Baghdad city limits, but he ruled out any return of US combat troops.
"We will not be sending US troops back into combat in Iraq, but I have asked my national security team to prepare a range of other options that could help support Iraqi security forces," he said.
Obama has been under mounting fire from his Republican opponents over the swift collapse of the Iraqi security forces, which Washington spent billions of dollars training and equipping before pulling out its own troops in 2011.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, who since taking office last August has overseen a rapprochement with a superpower Tehran long derided as the "Great Satan", said his government was prepared to consider offering help.
"If we see that the United States takes action against terrorist groups in Iraq, then one can think about it," Rouhani told a news conference.
Iraq's Shiite premier said the cabinet had granted him "unlimited powers" to reverse the offensive, in which militants swept down towards Baghdad after overrunning second city Mosul on Tuesday before losing some of its steam.
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