Special Report: Iran Nuclear Crisis

    TEHRAN, July 1 (Xinhua) -- Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini said on Sunday that the date of the second round of Iran-U.S. talks on Iraq has not been decided yet, the official IRNA news agency reported.

    "During the recent visit by Iraqi President Jalal Talabani to Tehran, Iraq's invitation for holding the second round of the talks was renewed," Hosseini was quoted as saying at his weekly press conference.

    "Iran has studied the first round of the talks, Iran's response will be on the agenda as soon as U.S. officials clarify their stance on the issue," the spokesman told reporters.

    "In the first round of talks, we criticized the incorrect U.S. policies on Iraq and presented solutions," said Hosseini, adding "but it's a pity we see no serious determination to correct the previous approaches in remarks made by U.S. officials".

    The first round of Iran-U.S. talks on Iraq issue took place on May 28 in Baghdad at ambassadorial level. Iran's Ambassador to Iraq Hassan Kazemi-Qomi represented Iran and Ryan Crocker acted as U.S. envoy.

    Talking about Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's ongoing visit to Iran, Hosseini said the visit could further strengthen relations between the two countries.

    Chavez arrived in Tehran late Saturday for a two-day visit which officials said was aimed at boosting political and economic cooperation between the two countries.

    This is Chavez's third visit to Iran since Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad took office in 2005.

    "We have political interests and close regional and international stances, these are important factors to help continue this cooperation," he said, adding that Iran and Venezuela would sign about 20 memorandum of understanding in various fields during the visit.