VIENNA, June 17 (RIA Novosti) – The US and Iran have discussed possible cooperative efforts to counter the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant movement on the sidelines of the talks between P5+1 and Tehran in Vienna, a representative of the US State Department said.
"We are open to engage with Iran We will discuss how [the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant] threatens many countries in the region, including Iran, and the need to support inclusivity in Iran and refrain from pressing a sectarian agenda," the US official said.
“The issue did come up briefly with Iran on the margins of the P5+1 in Vienna today, separate from our trilateral meeting which had included the EU,” the US State department representative explained.
"But there is absolutely no intention and no plan to coordinate military activity between the United States and Iran there are no plans to have consultations with Iran about military activities in Iraq," said the diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Iran has great influence in Iraq, where authorities are representatives of Shia Muslims, who share common religious grounds with the Iranian population.
The situation in Iraq has deteriorated dramatically early June, after Sunni militants of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) group captured Mosul, the capital of the northern Iraqi province of Ninawa. The militants also announced their intention to march on Baghdad.
Iraqi military forces fled from those regions, pursued by the extremists, many soldiers were captured, some of them executed by the rebels.
US President Barack Obama said that Washington does not exclude military action against extremists in Iraq, but will not send troops back into the country.
The United States, as part of the P5+1 group of international mediators (Russia, the US, the UK, France, Germany, China), and Iran are participating in the next round of talks held in Vienna to resolve the Iranian nuclear problem.
