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Iraqi Foreign Minister Zebari urges Iran, US to hold talks

Iraqi urged Iran and the United States on Wednesday to stop trading accusations and sit down for a fourth round of talks to seek solutions to Iraq's security woes.

  • Agencies
  • Published: 18:05 May 7, 2008
  • Gulf News

Baghdad: Iraqi urged Iran and the United States on Wednesday to stop trading accusations and sit down for a fourth round of talks to seek solutions to Iraq's security woes.

US and Iranian officials met three times last year to seek common ground on stabilising Iraq in discussions arranged by Baghdad.

US officials say they are ready for more talks but Iran has postponed them several times in the past few months. One of the few concrete results from last year's talks was formation of a joint security committee.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari said Iraq-hosted talks between the two bitter foes - one of the few forums in which they have direct diplomatic contact - had stalled. But he hoped they could soon be revived.

The Iraqis have repeatedly said they do not want their territory to become the battleground in a proxy war between the United States and Iran, who are also at loggerheads over Tehran's nuclear ambitions.

"We believe it is very important to bring both parties to the negotiating table to discuss Iraqi security issues," Zebari told a news conference. "We can't currently make this happen, with both countries trading accusations against each other."

Washington accuses Tehran of arming, financing and training Shiite militia groups that launch attacks on US forces in Iraq. Iran denies this and says the presence of American troops is to blame for the country's violence.

Zebari has expressed frustration at repeated delays in setting a date for a fresh round of talks.

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