海角大神

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Iraq鈥檚 largest oil refinery is under attack by Islamic militants northwest of Baghdad, threatening domestic oil and electricity supplies and signaling the rapid acceleration of the group鈥檚 offensive against Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's Shiite government.

Fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) have surrounded the refinery in Baiji for the past week and laid siege to it late Tuesday night. Fighting between ISIS and Iraqi forces continued this morning, with conflicting reports emerging about who is in control.

Witnesses reported hearing near the periphery of the refinery, which is located about 155 miles north of Baghdad and processes聽about a quarter of the country鈥檚 oil, all of which goes toward domestic use, reports The Associated Press. was set ablaze overnight and the fire has spread, reports The New York Times.

"The militants have managed to break in to the refinery. Now they are in control of the production units, administration building and four watch towers. This is 75 percent of the refinery," an the refinery told Reuters.

The New York Times said an Iraqi military spokesman was insisting that the refinery was not in the hands of militants, even as other reports indicated they were.

鈥淏aiji is now under control of our security forces, completely,鈥� General Atta said, appearing on Iraqiya, the state television channel.聽

Reports from Baiji sharply contradicted that assessment. A refinery worker who gave only his first name, Mohammad, reached by telephone, said that the refinery had been attacked at 4 a.m. and that workers had taken refuge in underground bunkers. In the course of the fighting, 17 gas storage tanks were set ablaze, although it was not clear by which side. After taking heavy losses, the troops guarding the facility surrendered and at least 70 were taken prisoner, he said.

Refinery workers were sent home unharmed by the extremists, Mohammad said.

A lieutenant from the battalion guarding Baiji, also reached by telephone and speaking on condition of anonymity, said he had fled his unit when it became clear that it would not be able to hold out against ISIS forces.

Iraq has the world's fifth-largest known crude oil reserves, with an estimated 143 billion barrels, according to the US Energy Information Administration. Its oil fields are a plum target; the Guardian notes that 聽oil resources in Syria 鈥渉ave been a key .鈥澛�

Since taking Mosul last week, one of Iraq鈥檚 largest cities, ISIS fighters quickly expanded their reach to the south and east. According to the AP:

The attack comes as militants have seized wide swaths of territory in Iraq 鈥� and as the specter of the sectarian warfare that nearly tore the country apart and the doubts that followed the 2003 U.S.-led invasion now haunt those trying to decide how to respond鈥�.

During the United States' eight-year presence in Iraq, American forces acted as a buffer between the two Islamic sects [Sunni and Shiite], albeit with limited success. But U.S. forces fully withdrew at the end of 2011 when Washington and Baghdad could not reach an agreement to extend the American military presence there.

President Obama has put pressure on Prime Minister Maliki to work with his political foes if he wants to receive US support in the present crisis. There was a 鈥渦nity鈥� meeting late Tuesday to discuss tensions in Iraq, followed by a joint statement. Today Obama meets with top US lawmakers to discuss options for combating ISIS, possibly including airstrikes, reports 海角大神.

However, the US is reluctant to get pulled into Iraq once again. An editorial in Bloomberg View suggests that partnering with Iran may be in the United States' best interest. 鈥淸M]ilitary might cannot stabilize fractured states if neighboring powers are working to prevent it鈥�. in Iraq and very limited options.鈥澛�

Nothing demonstrates more vividly the mess Iraq has become than the prospect of Iran and the U.S. discussing whether they can cooperate to fix it鈥�.

The least bloody way to stabilize Iraq is for the U.S. to bring all sides -- Sunni tribal and political leaders, Shiites, Kurds -- together to fight ISIL with the promise that the government in Baghdad will offer more autonomy and power-sharing. This strategy is likely to succeed only with Iran's cooperation. The U.S. and Iran will not become friends or allies, but if they can work together on Iraq, they should.

There is a precedent, albeit a brief one: The two countries shared intelligence to defeat the Taliban in Afghanistan, their common foe at the time, in 2001. ISIL is their common foe now.

Talking with Iran could also help the U.S. solve the problem that is Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who is currently Iran and the U.S. against each other. Both the U.S. and Iran have called on Maliki to reach out to Sunnis and Kurds in order to isolate ISIL, but he is instead militarizing Shiites and relying on their numerical majority to prevail.

Given Maliki's persecution and alienation of Sunnis over the past few years, any successful appeal across Iraq's sectarian divide would have to come from a new prime minister. The Iranian regime is in the best position to convince him of the wisdom of resignation.

The bigger question isn't whether the U.S. should try to work with Iran, but whether it can.