Don't miss cooperation with Iran, UK told

A think-tank close to the Britain's ruling Labor Party warned today that an opportunity to cooperate with Iran to find a peaceful settlement in Iraq must not be missed.

"Now is the time to bring Iran in from the cold," said the director of the Foreign Policy Centre in London, Stephen Twigg, a former education minister in Prime Minister Tony Blair's government.

"With British and coalition troops facing a determined insurgency in Iraq, and Iran becoming increasingly powerful in the Middle East -- the West must open dialogue with the Iranians immediately and without excessive preconditions," Twigg said.

His call came ahead of Prime Minister Tony Blair's annual foreign policy speech at the Lord Mayor's Banquet in London, in which he was reportedly set to confirm that he backs opening of talks with Iran and Syria as a way to break the impasse in Iraq.

Alex Bingham, his colleague at the center founded by Labor, said that Iran had already made 'constructive offers on both Iraq and Afghanistan, which have not been sufficiently pursued by the West'.

"It is in both Iran's and America's interest to build stability in Iraq. The cooperation between the US and Iran in the early stages of military action against Afghanistan, was, as every Iranian will tell you, a great missed opportunity. We must not let slip the opportunity to cooperate over Iraq," Bingham said.

He also criticized reservations voiced by the Conservative's shadow foreign secretary William Hague saying that he was "naive", if he thinks that merely engaging so-called 'moderate' Arab nations is sufficient to prevent the proliferation of WMD or terrorism.

"It is this blinkered Middle East policy that has resulted in the current malaise in the region," Bingham said.

He said that Iran wanted to engage with the West on a wide range of issues, including regional peace and security.

"The proposal by Tehran of a regional security organisation should be taken seriously by the US and the EU," he added.