US President Barack Obama say he is “not ruling anything out” to help Iraq deal with the insurgent threat after days of violence as militants take over a swathe of the country.
President Obama said he did not rule out any routes when it came to helping Iraq deal with the insurgent threat, adding that the US had an interest in making sure jihadists didn’t gain a foothold in the country.
The president said officials were looking into all options, and the US was prepared to take military action when its national security interests were threatened. Mr Obama’s press spokesman Jay Carney later confirmed that the president had meant possible airstrikes, not troops on the ground.
Isis forces released a recorded statement on Thursday from their leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, in which he gloried in the possible involvement of the US in the conflict, saying: “This is a message we send to America: you should know, you the protector of the cross, that the proxy war… is no use, as you will be forced into direct confrontation soon.”
Read more - 'Repent or die': Isis extremists lay down the law in Mosul
The Isis leader also threatened to invade Kurdistan if the Kurds continued to support the al-Maliki government. On Thursday Kurdish peshmerga forces secured the oil-rich town of Kirkuk, which had been briefly occupied by Isis rebel forces after Iraqi troops abandoned it.
With America still hesitating, there were reports on Thursday that Iranian Revolutionary Guards had crossed the border to helpt the fight against the extremist forces. In Tehran the Iranian President Hassan Rouhani strongly condemned the violence, describing it as “barbaric.”
After several days of sweeping gains, extremist fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (Isis) met greater resistance from Iraqi troops on Thursday.
Having lost control of the northern cities of Mosul and Tikrit, the government in Baghdad deployed Iraqi special forces to protect infrastructure facilities, such as the country’s largest oil refinery at Baji, north of the capital.
The international intervention comes as footage posted on the Ministry of Defence YouTube channel showed rockets being launched from what appears to be a helicopter onto the city of Mosul, which was take over by fighters from the Isis earlier this week.
A linked statement posted on the Iraqi MoD website said the Iraqi airforce was providing air cover for the province of Salahuddin.
Both Tikrit, which was seized by rebels on Wednesday, and Baji are in the Salahuddin province.
There were conflicting reports about who controls the Baji refinery. The Iraqi oil ministry insisting it remains in government control and is working normally, with an official at the site saying it had been secured by Iraqi special forces.
However Reuters spoke to police and an engineer inside the refinery who reported that insurgents had surrounded it. A witness living near the site said the militants had arrived in more than 50 vehicles, but had pulled back to surrounding villages after reaching a deal with local tribal chiefs.
Extremist forces entered Baji on Wednesday, setting both the court house and police station on fire.
Speaking in London, the Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said he was confident the Iraqi army was making progress after several days of extensive territorial losses to Isis. Mr Zebari said Iraqi troops had prevented Isis forces reaching any sensitive installations, pushing them back north of Baghdad.
Earlier in the day the US Vice President Joe Biden had called Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to discuss the situation.
Mr Zedari said: “We are confident that Iraqi forces and Iraqi political leaders will come together to defeat (the extremists) and prevent them establishing a caliphate in western Iraq and eastern Syria.”
Mr Zedari acknowledged the divisions within Iraqi society, but said the country could withstand the current rebel onslaught: “Most Iraqis are united to defeat them. Yes, there are sectarian tensions, there are ethnic tensions, but I think that overall the interests of the country demands everyone focus on the key danger which is coming from (the extremists).”
Mr Zedari said the current situation was “one of the spill-over effects of the continuing conflict in Syria – something that Iraq has warned the world about over the last two to three years, but not many people listened.”
The world is listening now though – on Thursday Iraqi Ambassador to France Fareed Yasseen called for the United Nations Security Council to approve extra military aid to Baghdad, including air and drone support, when it meets on Thursday evening.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius described the crisis as a “major risk for regional stability” and called for urgent action from the international community.
Speaking in Spain, Nato Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen condemned the violence and the taking of Turkish hostages, but made it clear he saw no role for Nato in Iraq.
Fears about the impact of the current situation on Iraqi oil exports drove up oil prices on Thursday. Brent Crude futures were up to a three-month high of over $111 a barrel.