US prepares for talks with Iran on Iraq
Iraq-Iran-USA, Politics, 3/18/2006

The American ambassador in Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, announced that negotiations are currently underway to specify the date of his meeting with Iranian officials to discuss Iraq. He asked to have Baghdad as a venue to convene such a meeting.

In a press interview, Khalilzad said he did not talk with Iran over the expected discussions, but he stressed the need that its agenda will concentrate only on the Iraqi file.

These statements come at a time when the American embassy in Baghdad accused Iran of carrying out unhelpful activities in Iraq. It said in a statement that the future of this country will not be decided by the USA or Iran or any other country, rather the Iraqis themselves will decide the future of their country.

The statement was issued one day after an announcement made by Iran that it had accepted a proposal by the speaker of the Higher Council Of The Islamic Revolution, Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, to start the dialogue with the USA over Iraq.

The secretary of the Iranian national security council Ali Larijani said that Iran has accepted the proposal to help in solving the problems in Iraq and establishing an independent state there.

In the same interview, Khalilzad called on the international community, especially the Gulf states, to support the financing of Iraq's rebuilding operations, adding that this falls in the interests of Iraq.

He also loomed that the candidate of the Shiite coalition for the presidency of the new government Ibrahim al-Jaafari is not the appropriate person to lead Iraq in the next phase.

Previous Stories:
  Iranian readiness to negotiate Washington over Iraq 's future   (3/17/2006)
  Iran and the explosives in Iraq   (3/14/2006)
  US denies it provided aid to Iraq in its war against Iran   (8/21/2002)

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