DAR AL HARB/ISLAM - U.S.A./IRAN: VARIOUS STORIES CONCERNING THE U.S./IRAN MEETINGS

Iran and US resume talks after 27 years
By Martina Smit and Damien McElroy in Baquba

Iran and the United States resumed high-level diplomatic talks today for the first time in more than a quarter century.

US ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker [left] walks with an aide at al-Asad airbase near the city of Hit, Anbar province.

The meeting in Baghdad between Ryan Crocker and Hassan Kazemi, the US and Iranian ambassodors to Iraq, was cordial, said an Iraqi official.

American officials have played down the significance of the discussions, emphasising that they would be limited to the subject of Iraq and would not be about Iran's nuclear programme or support for Hizbollah.

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Today's meeting took place at Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's office in the Green Zone compound in Baghdad. "There are good intentions and understanding and commitment between the two countries," Ali al-Dabagh, an Iraqi government spokesman, told reporters.

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Nervertheless, the discussions nearly did not occur. Iran was angered by US warships holding war games in the Gulf last week. Yesterday Tehran also accused the US of running "spy networks" designed to carry out sabotage operations on Iranian territory.

But just before 10.30am this morning, the two ambassadors shook hands and sat down in a conference room across the table from each other.

The positions going in to the talks were straightforward. Washington wants Tehran to butt out - to stop arming, financing and training militants, particularly Shiite militias that are fighting American and Iraqi troops. Tehran wants Washington out of Iraq, period.

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Speaking in Tehran, Iran's foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki today said the talks could lead to future meetings, but only if Washington admits its Middle East policy has not been successful.

"We are hopeful that Washington's realistic approach to the current issues of Iraq by confessing its failed policy in Iraq and the region and by showing a determination to changing the policy guarantees success of the talks and possible further talks," Mr Mottaki said.

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U.S. tells Iran to stop backing Iraq militias
By Ross Colvin
Reuters

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Washington's top official in Iraq said he told an Iranian delegation that Tehran should stop supporting militias in Iraq but described rare talks between the two foes on Monday as positive.

United States Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker said the talks, the first high-profile discussions between the two countries in almost three decades, ended without setting a date for another meeting.

"The talks proceeded positively. What we need to see is Iranian action on the ground," Crocker told reporters.

There was no immediate comment from the Iranian team after the talks.

"I laid out before the Iranians a number of our direct, specific concerns about their behavior in Iraq, their support for militias that are fighting both the Iraqi security forces and coalition forces," Crocker said.

"The fact (is) that a lot of the explosives and ammunitions that are used by these groups are coming in from Iran ... Such activities ... need to cease and ... we would be looking for results," he added.

Crocker said the Iranian delegation, led by Iraq Ambassador Hassan Kazemi-Qomi, did not respond directly to the charges other than to express their support for the Iraqi government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.

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Talks Between U.S. and Iran Begin
By STEVEN R. HURST

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But much more encumbers the narrow agenda, primarily Iran's nuclear program and more than a quarter-century of diplomatic estrangement after the 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran.

Further, the Iranian Shiite theocracy fears the Bush administration harbors plans for regime change in Tehran and could act on those desires as it did against Saddam Hussein in Iraq.

Washington and its Sunni Arab allies, on their side, are deeply unnerved by growing Iranian influence in the Middle East and the spread of increasingly radical Islam.

Compounding all that is Iran's open hostility to Israel.

Those issues, combined, are what make this opening of the U.S.-Iranian minuet both so important and so interesting.

Will this first meeting, as the Iraqis openly hope and as the Iranians and Americans may quietly aspire, be sufficiently cordial and productive that a second meeting becomes possible? Should that happen, will a future dialogue involve higher-level officials - perhaps Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki?

On Saturday, Crocker was circumspect when asked about prospects for further meetings.

"It's going to start with one meeting and see how it goes," Crocker said. "We're coming prepared to talk about Iraq."

Mottaki set out a hard-line opening position.

"The two sides can be hopeful about the outcome of the negotiations, if America develops a realistic view toward Monday's talks, admits its wrong policies in Iraq, decides to change them and accepts its responsibilities," he said in Tehran.

A political aide to al-Maliki told The Associated Press that Iraq hoped to play a mediator's role in easing tensions between the Americans and Iranians, which Iraqi officials have routinely said are being played out in Iraq.

The adviser, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the matter, said Iraq would remain neutral as regards to its position in the disputes.

"But we want to try to close the gap, to be partners in the dialogue," the official said. "It is time to look forward, not backward."

Many small issues could cloud the talks before they begin. There were U.S. Navy exercises in the Persian Gulf last week and tough talk from President Bush about new U.N. penalties against Tehran over its nuclear program. The United States says Tehran is trying to build a bomb, while Iran says it needs nuclear technology for energy production.

Further complicating the talks, Iran said Saturday that it had uncovered spy rings organized by the United States and its Western allies.

Iran accuses the U.S. of improperly seizing five Iranians in Iraq this spring. The U.S. military is holding the five. Iran says they are diplomats; Washington contends they are intelligence agents.

The U.S. also has complained about the detention or arrest of several Iranian-Americans in Iran in recent weeks. State Department spokesman Tom Casey said that issue was not on the U.S. agenda for Monday.

Regardless, the Baghdad talks are the first of their kind and a small sign that Washington thinks rapprochement is possible after nearly three decades of animosity. Iran, angry over the blunt show of U.S. military power off its coast, almost refused to come.


and what is the official Iranian news agency saying about 'the talks':


Iran-US talks on Iraq held behind closed doors

The Islamic Republic of Iran and the US held their first round of official talks on Iraq behind the closed doors.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and Iraqi Supreme National Security advisor Mowafaq al-Rabi'i attended the meeting.

Talking to reporters, al-Maliki said Iraq not only hosts the meeting but also plays a determining role in its success.

The US Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker and Iranian Ambassador to Baghdad Hassan Kazemi Qomi met on Monday at the home of Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki for the first official and direct talks in the past 27 years.

The Iranian delegation includes director of Mideast Department of the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Reza Amiri Moqaddam, head of Foreign Ministry special headquarters for Iraq Hossein Amir Abdollahian, and head of the delegation Kazemi Qomi.

The Iranian delegation arrived in Baghdad Sunday afternoon.

Experts consider the talks among major political developments in Iraq.

They believe that Iran-US talks on Iraq would be a great step toward reducing tension in the country. They appreciate Iran's decision to accept the talks in support for the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

Representatives of the participating delegations are expected to attend a press conference at the end of the talks to brief reporters on the topics discussed and decisions made in the meeting.


Pertinent Links:

1) Iran and US resume talks after 27 years

2) U.S. tells Iran to stop backing Iraq militias

3) Talks Between U.S. and Iran Begin

4) Iran-US talks on Iraq held behind closed doors