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| Iran 'backs US military contacts' to fight Islamic State | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Iran's Supreme Leader has approved co-operation with the US as part of the fight against Islamic State in northern Iraq, sources have told BBC Persian. | |
| Ayatollah Khamenei has authorised his top commander to co-ordinate military operations with the US, Iraqi and Kurdish forces, sources in Tehran say. | |
| Shia Iran regards the extremist Sunni Islamic State group, which views Shias as heretics, as a serious threat. | |
| Iran has traditionally opposed US involvement in Iraq, an Iranian ally. | |
| However last month US air strikes helped Iranian-backed Shia militia and Kurdish forces break a two-month siege by Islamic State (IS) of the Shia town of Amerli. |