Special Report: Iran Nuclear Crisis

Special report: Tension escalates in Iraq

    TEHRAN, May 22 (Xinhua) -- Iran has said that it is possible that Iranian and U.S. officials discuss issues related to Iran during their talks on Iraq in Baghdad on May 28, the official IRNA news agency reported on Tuesday.

    "In fact, talking with the United States over issues related to Iran is not an impossible matter," Mohammad-Javad Larijani,secretary of the Human Rights Headquarters of Iran's Judiciary said Monday, adding that "However, this depends on the subject matters."

    The Iranian official noted that the talks will be held "upon the request of our Iraqi friends and for the sake of assisting the people of Iraq."

    "We will not spare any efforts to restore peace and stability to Iraq and support the country's territorial integrity," he said.

    Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad-Ali Hosseini also expressed Monday that Iran would urge the United States to withdraw from Iraq in the upcoming talks between Tehran and Washington over Iraq's security.

    "In the negotiations, Iran will call for a timetable for withdrawal of foreign troops from Iraqi territories," Hosseini was quoted by IRNA as telling the Vienna-based daily Standard.

    He noted that the main reason for Baghdad's inability to fight and overcome terrorism is the presence of occupiers in Iraq and the wrong policies of American forces in the country. "The occupiers should give more authorities to the Iraqigovernment," he added.

    Last Sunday, Hosseini told reporters at his weekly press conference that Tehran does not agree with connecting Iran's nuclear program with the Iraqi issue.

    "We do not want any connection between the nuclear talks and the discussions on Iraq," Hosseini said, adding "if others are intended to create a link between the two cases, we reject it."

    U.S. and Iranian officials are scheduled to meet in Baghdad on May 28 for talks on Iraq's security, just three days ahead of the next round of negotiations between Iran's top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana over Tehran's nuclear program.

    Asked whether a representative from Syria would attend the U.S.-Iran talks on Iraq, Hosseini said, "Syria plays no role in the talks but an Iraqi representative will be present at the meeting."

    Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei stated last Wednesday that Tehran's policy of not negotiating with Washington was unchanged though there would be talks with the United States over Iraq.

    The talks would not mean a breakthrough between the two foes as Iran would merely use the talks with U.S. diplomats to remind Washington of its "occupiers' duty" in the conflict-torn Iraq,state-run television quoted Khamenei as saying.

    The Iranian Foreign Ministry, at the request of Iraq, decided to participate in face-to-face talks with the United States and remind them of their duties and responsibilities over the security of Iraq," said the Iranian leader.