Iran will consider talks with US

Tehran: Iran said on Monday it was ready to consider any US request to hold talks after British Prime Minister Tony Blair called on Washington to engage in the Islamic Republic.

Blair ‘s request for the United States to engage Syria and Iran was an effort to stem violence in Iraq and help secure Middle East peace. His proposal was backed by Australian Prime Minister John Howard.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini told reporters, "If they (the United States) really want to hold talks with Iran, they should officially propose it and then Iran will review it."

The idea has previously been rejected by US President George W Bush. Washington accuses Iran of aiding the insurgency and stoking sectarian strife in Iraq, a charge Tehran denies.

Iranian government spokesman Gholamhossein Elham earlier said the Islamic republic would welcome any change in US policy, but did not directly address the issue of talks.

"If there is a 180-degree turn in the policies of America it would be a blessed event," Elham told a weekly news conference on Monday.

"We hope that America reconsiders its policies, leaves the region alone, abandons war-mongering and supporting terrorist groups in this region," Elham said.

Last month, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice signalled that Washington might join talks with Tehran to resolve the Iran nuclear issue, but only if the Islamic Republic first suspended uranium enrichment, something Iran has repeatedly refused to do.