US-based Market Watch journal reported Sunday that the Obama administration authorized the clandestine intelligence operation in Iraq late last year.

The center was supposed to assist the Iraqi military in its fight against terrorism by sharing intelligence about the location of insurgent groups in remote areas of the country, the current and former American officials familiar with the issue said.

The officials added that intercepted communications of the leaders of the ISIL militant group and real-time drone feeds were among the critical data that was denied to the Iraqi government authorities.

Iraqis were only provided with limited photographic images.

Washington, the officials claimed, was worried that the data could end up in the hands of Iranians, suggesting that the US has no intention of cooperating with the Islamic Republic in fighting terrorism.

The Takfiri group, whose leader was released from a US-run prison in Iraq before the American forces withdrew from the country, has overrun a number of cities and towns in northern and northeastern Iraqi provinces in the past days.

Moreover, ISIL terrorists are widely-believed to be heavily supported and financed by regional US client-states, particularly Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

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