Iran says US requests more Iraq talks

TEHERAN - Iran announced on Monday that it had received a “request” from its arch-foe the United States to hold a fourth round of talks on security in Iraq.
“We have received a new request from US officials through a formal note for holding talks on Iraq and we are looking into the issue,” foreign ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini told reporters.
He said that the note had been received through the Swiss embassy in Teheran, which looks after US interests in the Islamic republic in the absence of a US mission.
No talks between the two sides have been held so far this year amid continued tension over Iran’s role in its conflict-torn neighbour.
An Iranian delegation travelled to Baghdad in March in expectation of a new round of talks that never took place. Iran said the United States cancelled the talks at the last minute, but US officials said the date was never set.
Iran and the United States held three rounds of talks about Iraq last year despite mounting tensions over Teheran’s nuclear programme. The two foes have had no diplomatic relations since 1980.
US ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker and his Iranian counterpart Hassan Kazemi Qomi held face-to-face talks in May and July last year, the highest level public contacts between the two sides for 27 years.
Officials from both countries also met at experts’ level last August, but there has been no meeting since.
The United States accuses Iran of meddling in Iraq by helping to train Shiite militias and shipping in armour-piercing bombs for attacks against US troops. Iran vehemently denies the charges.
The top US commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, has said ”Iranian-provided, Iranian-made rockets” have hit the heavily fortified Green Zone in Baghdad where Western embassies are housed.
He said this was in “complete violation” of promises made by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Iraqi leaders.