Iran 'ready to help' in Iraq, denies it has troops on the ground

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has told a press conference that Iran is ready to provide assistance in the fight against "terrorism."

However, he said that so far Iraq has not requested any such assistance from Iran, and denied reports that Iranian troops are already on the ground.

The Guardian on Saturday morning cites senior Iraqi military officials as saying that there are already some 2000 Iranian troops deployed in Iraq.