US President Barack Obama has declined to confirm or deny whether he is considering airstrikes on militant positions in Iraq, saying he has ruled nothing out.

US President Barack Obama has declined to confirm or deny whether he is considering airstrikes on militant positions in Iraq, saying he has ruled nothing out.

His comments on Thursday came after The New York Times reported Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki secretly asked the Obama administration last month to consider manned and unmanned airstrikes to halt growing advances by the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in the north of the country.

Obama told reporters at the White House during a joint press conference with Australian Premier Tony Abbott: “Over the last year, we have been providing them additional assistance to try to address the problems that they have in Anbar, in the northwestern portions of the country, as well as the Iraqi and Syrian border.

“What we’ve seen over the last couple of days indicates the degree to which Iraq’s going to need more help.”

Obama said he was looking at "all options" to help Iraq's leaders, who took full control when the U.S. occupation ended in 2011. "In our consultations with the Iraqis there will be some short-term immediate things that need to be done militarily," he said.

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden spoke to Maliki by telephone on Thursday. The White House signaled on Wednesday that it was looking to strengthen Iraqi forces rather than meet what one U.S. official said were past Iraqi requests for air strikes.

ISIL, which developed into a militia force inside Syria, has extended its reach in Iraq since Tuesday, gaining control of the northern Iraqi cities of Tikrit - Saddam Hussein’s birthplace - and Mosul.