IRAQ: U.S. and Iran trade barbed words at Baghdad talks

U.S. and Iranian envoys spoke to each other directly at a regional meeting in Baghdad but their exchanges dealt only with problems in Iraq and not with nuclear diplomacy. Iraq's foreign minister said the U.S. and Iranian delegates had a "lively exchange". All sides said talks were constructive and focused on Iraq. Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari on Saturday (March 10) said that a regional conference on Iraqi security held in Baghdad had been successful in several areas. He said at the end of the meeting the talks had achieved good results and that U.S. and Iranian delegates did engage in discussions but only about their relations in Iraq. "The meeting was constructive and positive in fact in its atmosphere and the composition," Zebari told a news conference. "The issues discussed in the meeting were totally focused on Iraq's security and stability." Iraq called the meeting to rally regional support to stop the sectarian violence threatening to tear the country apart, which has killed tens of thousands and driven some two million abroad since a U.S.-led invasion four years ago toppled Saddam Hussein. "All the issues discussed in the meeting were totally focussed on Iraqi stability and security. There were no other political agendas brought to the meeting," said Zebari. The conference brought together mid-level officials from Iraq's neighbours, the permanent UN Security Council members -- the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France -- and Arab countries. U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad told reporters that he wanted to see Iran take some 'concrete action' after Iranian officials said they supported efforts to bring peace to Iraq. Khalilzad urged Iraq's neighbours to do more to stop the flow of fighters, weapons and sectarian propaganda contributing to the violence in Iraq. "Well they (the Iranians) have stated today that they support Iraq, that they support the reconciliation effort, that they support the effort to bring security to the people of Iraq, that they want to have good relations with this new Iraq, that Iraq's success is important for them, that they want to cooperate with others in helping Iraq," Khalilzad said. "These are all good sentiments, good statements, and we welcome these statements. But statements are not sufficient, they're good but they're not sufficient. So the next step is to see that these sentiments, these statements, be translated into concrete action," he added. Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs Abbas Araghchi rebuffed U.S. charges that Iran is fuelling violence by arming some militant groups in Iraq. "Security of Iraq is our security and stability in Iraq is a necessity for peace and stability in the region," said Araghchi. "So there is no reason why we should interfere in Iraqi politics other than supporting peace and stability in Iraq. I think Americans are unfortunately suffering from intelligence failure," he added. Araghchi said foreign forces were fuelling a cycle of bloodshed in Iraq. Their presence was used to justify violence, and in turn the violence was used to justify the presence of foreign forces. "The presence of foreign forces cannot help the security in Iraq in long term," Araghchi said. "We need a timetable for the withdrawal of foreign forces." Araghchi said the meeting had been constructive but Tehran was concerned about growing sectarian violence in Iraq.

ITN Source | March 11, 2007

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