Iran offers Iraq all possible help with security

Tehran, Nov 28: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said his country would do whatever it could to help improve security in Iraq, where tensions are running high after the worst bombing since the 2003 US invasion.

Ahmadinejad made the pledge at the start of a visit by Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, whose trip was delayed by two days because of a curfew on Baghdad after a bomb attack on Thursday killed 200 Shi'ite Muslims. The curfew was lifted today.

The United States is facing growing calls to hold talks with Tehran to help end the bloodshed, which US officials say is being fuelled by Iranian weapons exports and backing for Shi'ite groups. Iran dismisses the charges.

''The Iranian nation and government will definitely stand beside their brother, Iraq, and any help the government and nation of Iran can give to strengthen security in Iraq will be given,'' Ahmadinejad said, according to Iran's ISNA news agency.

''We have no limitation for cooperation in any field.'' Ahmadinejad was speaking shortly after Talabani's arrival and just before the two presidents held formal talks.

Talabani said he would discuss improving ties between the neighbours, which fought a bloody eight-year war in the 1980s.

''In this trip, we will also talk about Iraq's security file because Iraq needs the comprehensive assistance of Iran to fight terrorism and create stability,'' Talabani was quoted as saying.

Political analysts said Iran might try to use talks with Talabani to show off its influence to the United States and bolster its position ahead of any dialogue with its old enemy.

They also said Iran's ability to stem the bloodshed was limited.

'Exaggeration'

The analysts said Talabani, who speaks Farsi fluently after years of contacts with Iran when he was in opposition to Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, could press Iran to stop seeing Iraq as a battleground in its three-decade-old fight with Washington.

Talabani was expected to meet Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki later today, followed by talks tomorrow the last day of the trip, with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's highest authority.

The visit is the latest of a series of contacts. Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki visited Tehran in September and secured a pledge of support for his government from Tehran.

Ahmadinejad, who regularly rails against the West, said yesterday that Iran was ready to help the United States in Iraq but only if Washington pledged to pull out its troops.

An Iranian political analyst, who asked not to be named, said Ahmadinejad's meeting with Talabani would in part aim ''to show Iran has the influence and power to take the initiative before engagement (with the United States) starts''.

Analysts said Iran had powerful friends in Iraq, but its influence still had limits. ''I think there has been some exaggeration about Damascus and Tehran's capabilities,'' said Iranian political analyst Mashaallah Shamsolvaezin.

Iran invited Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to the talks, but Syria did not respond. Iraq and Syria agreed last week to restore full diplomatic relations.

The New York Times said today a draft report prepared for an influential panel considering U.S. alternatives for Iraq urged direct talks with Iran and Syria, but set no schedule for troop withdrawal.

Reuters