By DPA
Baghdad : US and Iranian officials held “frank and serious” third round of talks on improving security in Iraq and agreed to continue the discussions “at a suitable time”, the head of Iran’s delegation has said.
Hossein Amir Abdollahian said the meeting, held behind closed doors in central Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone, tackled the reasons behind the spread of violence and armed attacks in Iraq.
“We held two-and-a-half hours of frank and serious talks and evaluated the roots of terrorism and how to confront it for the sake of Iraq’s stability and security,” Abdollahian said.
The talks Monday followed an agreement last month between Iraq, Iran and the US to form a trilateral security committee to help bring stability to Iraq.
US Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker also met with his Iranian counterpart Hassan Kazemi Qomi for about two hours, the US State Department said, though no further details of the meeting were given.
The talks were the third direct encounter between the two political arch-foes after two previous meeting in May and July. The US and Iran severed diplomatic ties 27 years ago and have had very little contact since.
At a later press conference at the Iranian embassy in Baghdad, Abdollahian said the lower-level meeting reviewed what he called the confused attitude that led to US doubts about the role Iran is playing in Iraq, the Voices of Iraq news agency reported.
Washington has repeatedly accused Tehran of inciting violence by arming and training Shia militias in Iraq. Abdollahian called those accusations part of US propaganda.
The Iraqi side presented a request for support for Iraq’s government and people, demolishing armed operations and realizing peace and stability, Abdollahian said.
He noted that the US and Iranian officials agreed to continue talks at a date to be established through diplomatic channels and upon the Iraqi government request.
The fate of four Iranian diplomats, detained by the US in the northern Iraqi city of Arbil, was also discussed.
“We posted the American side that this step violates Geneva agreements on human rights,” Abdollahian said. “Iraqi foreign minister asserted … that they are considered as official employees in Arbil and they do their job upon the central government’s approval.”
Iran is in turn holding four US-Iranian scholars accused of espionage, though Tehran has not linked their detention to the issue of the Iranian diplomats or called for a swap. It was not clear if those arrests also came up during the talks.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki did not attend the meeting. Al-Maliki had earlier called on both the US and Iran to help Iraq regain security, warning that armed groups like the Al Qaeda terrorist network might spread into neighbouring countries.
Iraq’s President Jalal al-Talabani had met earlier with the Iranian officials.
“The success in the talks will be for the good of all parties,” Talabani said in a statement, adding that that he hoped the Iranian side “will play a positive role to meet the expectations of the Iraqi nation”.