By IANS
Tehran : Iran Monday dismissed reports that it had sought bilateral talks with the US over Iraq security situation and said parleys were held in the presence of Baghdad's representatives.
Tehran had not asked Washington to upgrade the ambassadorial talks on Iraq to the level of deputy ministers, foreign ministry spokesman Mohammad-Ali Hosseini told reporters during his weekly press briefing here.
"No such proposal has been made by Iran," Iranian news agency IRNA quoted Hosseini as saying.
Two negotiating teams, led Iran's envoy to Iraq Hassan Kazemi Qomi and his US counterpart Ryan Crocker, held the second round of talks on Iraq's security in al-Khadra west of Baghdad July 24. The first round of talks between the two sides was held in Baghdad May 28.
"All negotiations were held in the presence of Iraqi officials and formation of the security committee for Iraq was agreed by all the three parties (Iran, Iraq and US). Currently consultations are underway to discuss major issues in this connection," Hosseini said.
Referring to a possible visit to Tehran by the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, the spokesman said: "The UN Secretary General has expressed interest in visiting Iran.
"Making necessary preliminaries for such a visit needs some time and the issue is being followed up by Iran's UN ambassador," Hosseini said.