Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad-Ali Hosseini said on Sunday that Iranian delegates had held no direct talks with US diplomats at the conference on Iraq's security held Saturday in Baghdad, the official IRNA news agency reported.
Hosseini made the remarks at his weekly press briefing in reference to the Saturday meeting held in Baghdad which gathered representatives from Iraq's Arab neighbors as well as Iran, Turkey, the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and the Arab League.
US Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad told reporters on Saturday after the meeting that he held "constructive and business like" talks on Iraq's security with Iranian officials.
"I met with them directly and I met with them in front of others and spoke to them across a table as well. The discussions with the Iranians and others with regard to Iraq were constructive, businesslike and problem-solving in orientation," he said.
"The dialogue with Iran was a good step toward security in Iraq and we are waiting for the Iranians' commitment to what we talked about," he said.
While denying that Iranian officials had held direct talks with the US envoy, Hosseini said that "all participating states expressed their views."
"Talks were focused on establishment of security and stability in Iraq," the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman said, adding that the Baghdad conference was a positive measure.
If a similar conference is held at the ministerial level in Baghdad in the near future, such a positive trend can be expected to continue," Hosseini was quoted as saying.
The United States has accused Iran of supporting Iraqi insurgents to fight against coalition forces since the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime in 2003, but Tehran has denied it and said that such an allegation was deliberate intervention in Iran-Iraq ties.
(Xinhua News Agency March 12, 2007)
