US and Iran ready for Iraq talks

[Arawn-ap-Hywel]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/mid...st/4813048.stm

The US says it has authorised its envoy in Baghdad to hold talks with Iranian officials about the situation in Iraq. It would be the first public dialogue since the 1979 hostage crisis, after which the nations broke off ties. Earlier, Iranian nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani said Tehran had agreed to hold talks with the US following an appeal from a prominent Iraqi Shia politician. The White House says Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad can talk about Iraq, but not about Iran's nuclear ambitions. Mr Khalilzad's talks with Iranian officials will be to "express our concerns... about their involvement inside Iraq," White House spokesman Scott McLellan said. "Those are concerns that we have expressed publicly and those are concerns that we are willing to express to them as well if they want to discuss the matter." The question of Iran's nuclear programme, over which Tehran is facing increasing international pressure, was a "separate issue" to be dealt with at the UN, he went on.

[rmnunez]

As noted, "Swarmer" has had a positive effect. What I can't believe is that in agreeing to meet with the united statians, the Iranian state department reportedly refered to them as "the Great Satan".

[rmnunez]

An Iranian ploy?

The Bush administration views Tehran's acceptance of an American offer to talk about Iraq, made months ago, as an indication that Iran is feeling the international heat, national security adviser Steven J. Hadley said. "What is interesting is that the Iranians would choose now, at this moment, in such a very public way, to embrace this idea and try to expand it to a negotiation about a broader set of issues," Hadley said. "The concern, therefore, is that it is simply a device by the Iranians to try and divert pressure that they're feeling in New York, to try and drive a wedge between the US and the other countries with which we are working on the nuclear issue and, if you will, divert pressure and divert attention." http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/03/17/D8GDJS0G7.html