"They’re separate issues," said Cheney, who sternly warned Iran Friday from a US aircraft carrier roughly 150 miles (240 kilometres) from its shores that the United States would not let the Islamic republic acquire nuclear weapons.
"We’ll stand with others to prevent Iran from gaining nuclear weapons and dominating this region," he told thousands of sailors on the nuclear-powered USS John C. Stennis, five warplanes parked behind him.
But with Cheney in the Middle East to seek Arab support for containing Iran, Tehran announced later that it had accepted a US invitation for ambassador-level talks in Baghdad on efforts to stabilize and rebuild Iraq.
US President George W. Bush "made clear that the conversations in Baghdad are between ambassadors to focus on the situation in Iraq and what we believe is Iran’s interference in the internal affairs of Iraq," said Cheney.
"A separate proposition is the fact the international community, including the United States, is deeply concerned about Iran’s pursuit of enrichment technology for building nuclear weapons," the vice president said.
"The Iranians are, in fact, in violation now of two unanimously approved United Nations Security Council resolutions calling for them to stop what they’re doing," he said.
Cheney spoke to reporters as he wrapped up a week-long Middle East visit aimed at winning support from the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Jordan for US-led efforts to stabilize Iraq and contain Iran.