U.S. AND IRAN TO HOLD TALKS ON IRAQ
PanARMENIAN.Net
23.07.2007 17:19 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The United States and Iran are to hold
ambassador-level talks in Baghdad on the deteriorating security
situation in Iraq July 24.
The two sides will sit down together tomorrow, according to Iraqi
Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari and U.S. Embassy spokesman Philip
Reeker, amid U.S. allegations that Tehran is supporting violent Shiite
militias in the country.
Zebari said the discussions would be at ambassador level and would
focus on the situation in Iraq, not U.S.-Iran tensions.
Iraq stands for holding the second round of talks and hopes the
meeting will produce effect.
U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker and Iran’s Hassan Kazimi Qomi
will hold tete-a-tete talks, Iran.ru reports.
Little progress emerged from the first round of talks in May between
the ambassadors on May 28, 2007.
The U.S. broke off relations with Iran in 1980 when Islamic
revolutionaries seized the US embassy in Tehran and held diplomats
hostage.
Tuesday’s meeting will be hosted by the Iraqi government, whose Shia
Muslim leaders have close links with Iran.
The U.S. urges Iran to stop interfering in Iraq’s domestic affairs
while Tehran demands stepwise withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
