NEW YORK // The United States and Iran on Monday moved closer to direct talks on how to support Iraq in its fight against Islamist militants, even as Riyadh warned against foreign intervention, instead calling on Baghdad to forge an inclusive consensus government that would address Sunni Arab grievances.
Saudi Arabia rejects "foreign interference in [Iraq's] internal affairs", the country's minister of information, Abdulaziz bin Mohiuddin Khoja, said in a statement following a cabinet meeting, in an apparent reference to reports of Iranian paramilitary forces being deployed to bolster the Iraqi military.
Riyadh urged the quick "formation of a government of national consensus" in order to create "security and stability".
Saudi Arabia has long had strained ties with Iraq's prime minister, Nouri Al Maliki over his relationship with Iran and marginalisation of Iraq's Sunnis.
Riyadh on Monday blamed the current crisis on "the sectarian and exclusionary policies practised in Iraq over the past years which have threatened its security, stability and sovereignty".
Qatar's foreign minister, Khaled Al Attiyah, also said the exclusion of Sunnis had led to the current violence, which has seen the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, an Al Qaeda offshoot, lead a range of disaffected Sunni militant groups in a rampage across northern Iraq, seizing a number of cities and towns, including Mosul.
US president Barack Obama has said that he is weighing military options to assist Iraqi forces roll back the militants' gains, including drone strikes and cruise missiles attacks.
The US secretary of state, John Kerry, on Monday said "this terrorist entity cannot be allowed to run roughshod… no matter how bad the government may or may not have been".
Washington and Tehran have long been adversaries and have no formal diplomatic relations. But at the same time they are Mr Al Maliki's only significant allies and have a shared interest in preventing his government's collapse.
Administration officials said over the weekend that this week's talks in Vienna over Tehran's disputed nuclear programme could also provide a venue for talks on Iraq.
"We're open to discussions if there is something constructive that can be contributed by Iran, if Iran is prepared to do something that is going to respect the integrity and the sovereignty of Iraq and the ability of the government to reform," Mr Kerry told Yahoo! News on Monday.
The potential for Iran-US cooperation has likely angered Washington's Gulf Arab allies, particularly Riyadh, who was incensed after secret talks between its closest ally and its regional arch-rival led to the current round of nuclear negotiations.
On Sunday, Mr Kerry spoke on the phone with the foreign ministers of the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Jordan, during which he "pledged to keep in close contact with each of the ministers in the coming days, during which he will continue [to] reach out to other regional counterparts", a senior State Department official said on the condition of anonymity.
Mr Kerry and the Arab ministers "addressed the need to support the Iraqi and Syrian people in confronting terrorists who also pose a threat to nations throughout the region and beyond".
The Saudi cabinet's statement on Wednesday was likely directed at both Iran and the US.
"There is reluctance in some Gulf capitals to see the US take action in Iraq if it leaves Maliki's regime completely intact or in a strength of position," said David Weinberg, an analyst at the Washington -based Foundation for the Defense of Democracies.
The public statements by US officials regarding potential cooperation with Iran is another sign of how the advance of ISIL is upending regional dynamics and challenging borders.
In Washington, even senior figures who are normally hawkish on Iran have called for dialogue.
"We should have discussion with Iran to make sure they don't use this as an opportunity to seize control of parts of Iraq," Republican Senator Lindsey Graham told CNN on Sunday.
"If Baghdad falls and the central government collapses in Iraq, the Iranians are the biggest winner, we're the biggest loser."
As the prospect of Iran-US cooperation increases, Gulf officials will likely question the US on what Washington's redlines will be with regard to Iran's military posture inside of Iraq, Mr Weinberg said.
Similar to its Gulf allies, the US administration has also partially placed the blame for the violence on Baghdad, and Mr Obama reiterated on Sunday his demand that any US military assistance would be conditioned on a political plan by Mr Al Maliki that includes Sunnis in concrete ways.
Given Iran's close relationship with Mr Al Maliki, Mr Obama is likely not naive about Tehran's intentions and any talks could be "pro forma", according to Wayne White, the former principal Iraq analyst with the State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research.
Mr Kerry may tell his Gulf counterparts that "if we do this it's going to be purely to see if the Iranians have anything to say that might be reassuring, but other than that we expect them to act in the way they always act and don't think this is going to be an improvement of relations", Mr White said.
tkhan@thenational.ae