DHAKA: US president Barack Obama on Thursday said his government is looking at "all options" to help Iraq fight Islamists militants, including military action.

His remarks came after the Iraqi cities of Mosul and Tikrit fell to Sunni Islamist insurgents during a lightning advance.

Obama said the US had an interest in making sure jihadists did not gain a foothold in Iraq.

A parliamentary vote to grant Iraq's PM emergency powers was delayed earlier after MPs failed to turn up. Just 128 out of the 325 MPs were present for the vote on Nouri Maliki's request.

Led by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS), the insurgents are believed to be planning to push further south to the capital, Baghdad, and regions dominated by Iraq's Shia Muslim majority, whom they regard as "infidels".

BDST: 0605 HRS, JUN 13, 2014