U.S., Iran ready to renew talks

The Baltimore Sun

washington -- U.S. and Iranian officials have agreed to a second round of their groundbreaking face-to-face talks over conditions in Iraq, Iraqi officials said yesterday.

Both U.S. and Iranian officials said they were ready to return to discussions about Iraqi security, even though their first meeting yielded none of the results sought by either side. That meeting, on May 28, broke a 27-year freeze on direct talks between the two nations.

U.S. officials, who see Iranian meddling as one of Iraq's biggest problems, said they were eager to repeat their warnings that Tehran needs to stop supporting sectarian militia and distributing sophisticated explosives that are injuring U.S. troops.

"Given the situation in Iraq and given Iran's continued behavior that is leading to further instability in Iraq, it would be appropriate to have another face-to-face meeting, to directly convey to the Iranian authorities that if they wish to see a more stable, secure, peaceful Iraq ... then they need to change their behavior," said Sean McCormack, the chief State Department spokesman.

In Tehran, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said his government would agree to an invitation from Washington, though it had not yet received a formal request.

"We look positively at holding a second round of talks," he said.

Officials at the Iraqi Embassy in Washington confirmed that a meeting is being planned. The Iraqi government has been eager to have the two countries, its two most important allies, work out their differences.

The last meeting was held in Baghdad, with Iraqi officials taking part. Even though the agenda will be narrowly focused, American willingness for a new meeting is a sign that U.S. officials want to keep channels open at a time when they are trying to persuade all of Iraq's neighbors to join in stabilizing the country.

Patrick Clawson, a Mideast analyst at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said that even though many in the U.S. government might doubt whether the session will be productive, it makes sense for the U.S. to repeat its primary message of encouraging the Iranians to help stabilize Iraq.

"It's often useful to meet with people who've done none of the things you've asked, even if only to point it out to them," he said.

For Iran, the meeting might be used to push U.S. officials to release five accused Iranian spies held since January. Iranian officials insist the five are consular officials who are entitled to diplomatic immunity.

U.S. officials, in addition to complaining about Iranian involvement in Iraq, have demanded that Tehran release four American-Iranian scholars and activists charged with jeopardizing Iranian security.

But Iraq will be the chief topic. David Satterfield, the State Department's Iraqi coordinator, made clear last month that the U.S. was not satisfied with the response to its demands that Tehran halt all involvement in Iraq violence.

"We have got to see Iran perform on this issue," he said on C-SPAN. "We have not, to date."

Paul Richter writes for the Los Angeles Times.

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