Baghdad – (dpa – Deutsche Presse-Agentur) Iran and the United States on Monday held their first formal talks in almost three decades, with a four-hour meeting in Baghdad that focused on security issues in Iraq termed as positive but failing to provide any concrete breakthrough.
Washington’s ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker, who headed the US delegation, said following the discussions that the Iranian side did not respond to some of the raised issues, chief among them the US call that Tehran halt its alleged support to armed militias in Iraq.
Iran’s suggestions do not possess the qualities or the conditions insisted by the US side as prerequisites to their discussions, Crocker said.
He also added that there were arguments regarding some of the security issues, and regarding Iranian policies in Iraq.
The dialogue between the two parties did not side-track to other issues. Crocker said. Neither the Iranian nuclear programme or the cases of seven Iranian detainees held by the US military were discussed.
Ahead of the meeting, observers had said that among the key demands of Tehran would be the release of five of these Iranians, whom Iran deemed ‘diplomats.’
The US and Iranian delegations were headed by the two country’s ambassadors to Iraq, Crocker and Hassan Kazemi Qumi.
Senior Iraqi diplomats and Foreign Affairs Ministry officials were also in attendance, reports said.
Iranian officials said their side was concerned about increasing pressure from the US and accusations that the Shiite Islamic state was responsible for sectarian-driven violence in Iraq.
Before the meeting, Iranian officials had said that Iran believed the US forces were responsible for breeding violence.
Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki earlier told the press that his country’s representatives would explain to the US the mistakes they had made in Iraq.
However Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki had prior to the meeting rejected any expectation by Iran that a timetable for US withdrawal would be implemented.
‘The presence of the multinational forces is linked with the completeness and the readiness of the Iraqi security forces,’ the Iraqi premier said Monday. ‘Their presence is connected to the security situation and Iraq will not be (used) to threaten any of its neighbours.’
Crocker, following the meeting, commented only by saying that no calendar was set for US withdrawal.
The discussions took place in al-Maliki’s residence in Baghdad’s heavily-fortified Green Zone.
Dropping previous conditions for negotiations with Iran, officials of US President George W Bush’s administration had agreed to hold their first formal talks with the Islamic state since relations were broken in the wake of the 1979 hostage crisis.
Washington has accused Tehran of fomenting violence in Iraq by providing material support to militant groups responsible for attacks on US soldiers.
Crocker intended to raise the issue of Iranian support for the production of bomb materials in Iraq and the backing of militias aggravating Shiite and Sunni tensions, US State Department officials said prior to the meeting.
Following the talks Crocker said that Iran had denied all accusations against it. He added that the efforts of the US delegations at the meeting were not directed at establishing legal cases against Iran.
However, he insisted that it was dangerous for Iran to violate internal security policies in Iraq, and that this was the root of US concern.
Qumi, who represented Iran at the meeting, is reportedly a Quds Force officer. The Quds Force is a special unit of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards that have recently been accused by the US of supporting Shiite death squads in Iraq.
The US and Iran have been at loggerheads since the fall of the US- backed Shah and the US embassy hostage crisis, but had informal contacts during the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s, some of which became public during the Iran-Contra scandal.
The discussions were earlier in the day welcomed by Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki as a result of ‘positive conditions.’
‘We want a stable Iraq, one without international forces or regional interference,’ al-Maliki told reporters, insisting that Iraq was not just a mediator of the Baghdad talks, but ‘the main side that guides the dialogue.’
Crocker, following the meeting, confirmed that the Iraqi participatns contributed effectively, and that generally the Iraqi side moderated the dialogue.
‘We don’t want Iraq to turn into a base of terrorist organizations that harm Iraq and its neighbours. We want a similar position from other countries, especially neighbours and regional (allies),’ al- Maliki had said.
Despite the enthusiasm that preceded the meeting, observers said that there was little that Monday’s dialogue will pave the way for more direct Washington-Tehran discussions, especially as unresolved issues had reportedly remained as such.
