According to Secretary of State John Kerry, the Obama administration is open-minded about sending military forces to work with Iran in the fight against Sunni terrorists.

On Monday, Kerry said that Washington is willing to work with Iran if the country can stop the violence, putting faith back into the Iraqi government, The Associated Press reported. Kerry added that communication with the country of Iran would proceed "step-by-step."

When it comes to military force, Kerry said that he does "not rule out anything that would be constructive." In an interview with Yahoo! News, Kerry reportedly said that drone strikes "may well" be a possibility.

"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 sovereignty of Iraq and ability of the government to reform," Kerry said Monday.

AP reported that unilateral air strikes, which would be used to slow down "al-Qaida-inspired insurgency" threatening the reign of Iraq Prime Minister President Nouri al-Maliki, are under consideration as well.

"They are not the whole answer, but they may well be one of the options that are important to be able to stem the tide and stop the movement of people who are moving around in open convoys and trucks and terrorizing people," Kerry said. "When you have people murdering, assassinating in these mass massacres, you have to stop that, and you do what you need to do if you need to try to stop it from the air or otherwise."

According to Reuters, Kerry spoke with Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari via telephone on Saturday according to a statement from the State Department.

"He emphasized to the Foreign Minister that assistance from the United States would only be successful if Iraqi leaders were willing to put aside differences and implement a coordinated and effective approach to forge the national unity necessary to move the country forward and confront the threat of ISIL," the statement said.
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Follow Scharon Harding on Twitter: @ScharHar.

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