Iran open to higher level talks with US-minister

TEHRAN, July 25 (Reuters) Iran is open to higher level talks with the United States, Iran's foreign minister was quoted as saying today, the day after envoys from the two arch foes met for a second time this year to discuss Iraqi security.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, meanwhile, reiterated that Tehran hoped that by talking to the United States it could help restore stability to Iraq.

US Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker, speaking after lengthy talks with his Iranian counterpart in Baghdad yesterday, accused Iran of increasing support for militias involved in bloodshed in Iraq but, in a rare sign of cooperation, agreed with Tehran to set up a panel to improve security.

He also said he had challenged Iran over its suspected support for other radical groups in the Middle East such as Hamas and Hezbollah.

Asked whether Iran was ready to hold higher level talks with the United States, Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said: ''It can be considered if Iran receives a formal request from America.'' The two rounds of Baghdad talks represent the highest profile face-to-face dialogue between Iran and the United States since the 1979 Islamic revolution.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has offered to sit down with Iranian officials for talks, but only if Iran freezes its nuclear fuel programme first -- something Iran, which says its atomic plans are peaceful, has said it will not do.

US FRUSTRATION Mottaki rejected accusations that Iran backed Iraqi militants.

''We have always announced our clear responses ... the Americans are trying to run away from their own mistakes (in Iraq),'' the semi-official Fars news agency quoted Mottaki as saying.

Crocker yesterday expressed frustration with the lack of progress since the two sides ended a lengthy diplomatic freeze to hold face-to-face talks in May.

''The fact is, and we made very clear in today's talk, that over the roughly two months we have actually seen militia-related activities that can be attributed to Iranian support go up and not down,'' he said.

He said Iran agreed in principle to join a new trilateral security sub-committee to investigate issues such as support for extremist militias and al Qaeda in Iraq. Details will be worked out in the next few days, he said.

Shi'ite Muslim Iran blames the 2003 US-led invasion and occupation of Iraq for the continued bloodshed between Iraq's Shi'ite majority and Sunni Arab minority.

''We are ready to do whatever is necessary to help the security and unity of Iraq and support the Iraqi government and people,'' the official IRNA news agency IRNA quoted President Ahmadinejad as saying.

''Our goal of these talks is to help the Iraqi government and people.'' REUTERS SBC KN1729