By RIA Novosti
Moscow : Talks between the United States and Iran on security in Iraq will start in the next few days, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said on Tuesday.
“The next round of talks will get underway in a few days. We hope the talks will help improve the situation in and surrounding Iraq,” Zebari told a news conference in Moscow.
The minister confirmed Iranian ISNA news agency reports on Saturday that the fourth round of U.S.-Iranian talks on Iraq could take place in Baghdad next week.
The U.S. and Iran held the first three rounds in Baghdad last summer pledging to set up a three-party committee on Iraq’s security and defense capability. They were the first direct talks between the two countries since they severed relations in 1979.
The two countries are currently embroiled in a row over the Islamic Republic’s controversial nuclear program.
Washington has also accused Iran of supplying weapons for and training militants in Iraq, plagued by violence since the end of the U.S.-led invasion of the Middle East state in 2003. Tehran denies the accusations.
ISNA said Tehran is insisting the talks should be between ambassadors, whereas Washington prefers expert-level negotiations.