US, Iran to hold talks in Baghdad on July 24

Baghdad, July 23: US and Iranian envoys will hold talks in Baghdad on Tuesday to discuss the worsening chaos in Iraq, following up on a landmark meeting in May, Iraq's foreign minister said today.

''Iraq will host the second round of US-Iranian talks on the 24th of this month,'' the minister, Hoshiyar Zebari, told Reuters by telephone.

''We support this dialogue and hope it achieves tangible results.'' He said the ambassadors to Iraq from both countries would lead the talks, with Iraqi government officials also present.

The two ambassadors met in Baghdad on May 28, in the highest-level meeting of the two foes in almost three decades.

The growing security chaos in Iraq has pushed the two countries, which have not had diplomatic ties since shortly after Iran's 1979 revolution, to seek common ground.

Washington accuses Shi'ite Muslim Iran of fomenting violence in Iraq. Iran denies backing the charges and blames the US-led invasion in 2003 for the bloodshed between Iraq's majority Shi'ite and minority Sunni Muslim Arabs.

The United States has been leading diplomatic efforts to isolate Iran over its nuclear ambitions but both sides say any talks will focus solely on matters in Iraq.

Reuters>