Iran to meet with US concerning Iraq
In what appears to be a major turnaround in policy, Iran’s national security chief announced Thursday that his government intended to name a team of negotiators to hold direct talks with the United States on the subject of calming civil strife in Iraq. If negotiations take place, they will mark the first direct, open contact between the two governments in about two decades.
An aide to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said the talks could lead to discussions of other issues, including the dispute over Iran’s nuclear ambitions, which the U.N. Security Council took up this week.
In Washington, however, White House spokesman Scott McClellan stressed that any contacts would be limited to the topic of Iraq. He played down the significance of the Iranian announcement and said he was not sure he would even characterize it as the start of “a dialogue.”
The Bush administration said last year that it was willing to engage in limited discussions with Iran about how to maintain peace in Iraq, with the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, authorized to speak to the Iranians. But until Thursday, Tehran had rebuffed the overtures.
The Iranian move came on the same day the Bush administration released its national security statement, revised for the first time in three years, which declares that Iran may be the largest security challenge to the United States. It also accuses the Iranian regime of sponsoring terrorism, threatening Israel, disrupting democracy in Iraq and thwarting Iranians’ desire for freedom.
“This is a very narrow mandate dealing specifically with issues relating to Iraq,” McClellan said of the proposed talks. The question of Iran’s nuclear program is a “separate issue” to be dealt with at the U.N., he added.
Iran’s foreign policy chief, Ali Larijani, told reporters in Tehran that the decision to hold talks on Iraq with the United States followed a request from two Iraqi leaders: Abdelaziz Hakim of the pro-Iranian Shiite group Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq and interim President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd. Shiites make up a majority in the two Persian Gulf nations.
“Iraq is our natural ally, and its security is of principal importance to us,” Larijani said after he had briefed parliament in a closed session. “Since this has been asked from us by Mr. Hakim, we have agreed to this request to help resolve the issues in Iraq, and to assist with the formation of an independent and genuinely free Iraq.”
He said members of the negotiating team would be appointed soon. He did not say when or at what level the talks would be held.
latimes
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