Iran-US Talks on Iraq Security Postponed

A03874611.jpgTEHRAN (FNA) – Iran has postponed a scheduled round of talks with the United States on Iraqi security in Baghdad, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari said on Thursday.

Zebari told Reuters the talks were to have been held on Friday.

“Yesterday we were informed that the Iranians want to postpone this for some time, for some unknown reason,” Zebari said.

US and Iranian officials met three times last year in Baghdad to discuss security in Iraq in talks arranged by the Iraqi government.

The talks eased a diplomatic freeze between Iran and the United States that has lasted almost three decades, though the two countries are currently embroiled in a row over Tehran’s nuclear progress.

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki was quoted on Wednesday by IRNA news agency as saying the next round of discussions would take place at an expert level.

He was referring to a security committee made up of officials from both sides.

Tehran has always stressed the necessity for a rapid withdrawal of the US troops from Iraq, describing the move as the only solution to end violence in the war-torn neighbor of the Islamic Republic.

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