DHAKA: A top Iranian official said on Wednesday that Teheran could consider working with the United States over the crisis in Iraq if talks on its nuclear programme are successful.

Asked about possible cooperation in Iraq, president Hassan Rohani’s chief of staff Mohammad Nahavandian told reporters in Oslo that the nuclear talks were a ‘test for confidence building’, reports The Straits Times.

‘If that comes to a final resolution, then there might be opportunities for other issues to be discussed.’

Nahavandian added that he was opposed to external intervention against Islamic militants from the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) who have made sweeping gains in northern Iraq in recent days amid reports of the summary execution of hundreds of US-trained Iraqi soldiers.

BDST: 2055 HRS, JUNE 18, 2014