Iranian leaders hope the US will intervene in the Iraq crisis to defeat the common enemy of Sunni extremism but have ruled out co-operation with Washington, officials told the Financial Times. As the Sunni insurgents made further territorial gains in northern Iraq over the weekend, diplomats have been assessing the wider regional implications of the crisis, and in particular on the fraught US-Iranian relationship. More On this story On this topic IN Iraq One senior Iranian government adviser told the Financial Times: “The US has no choice but to clear up this mess in Iraq, otherwise its achievements and credibility in the region would be gone. The US should help remove this infection [Sunni extremists] from the region.” However, Ali Shamkhani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, rejected co-operating with the US, describing it as “psychological war and totally unreal”. At a press conference on Saturday, Iran’s president […]