US withdrawal needed for security, Iran tells Iraq

TEHRAN, Aug 9 (Reuters) An end to violence in Iraq depends on the United States withdrawing its troops, Iran today told Iraq's prime minister seeking to deflect accusations from Washington that it is responsible for bloodshed there.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, facing deepening political woes at home and US criticism for lack of progress in bridging sectarian divisions, won pledges of support from Shi'ite Iran during a visit to the neighbouring country.

With Shi'ite Muslims now in power also in Baghdad, ties have strengthened between the two oil-rich states since 2003, when US-led forces toppled Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, a Sunni Arab who waged an eight-year war against Iran in the 1980s.

But the US military accuses the Islamic Republic of arming and training militias behind some of the violence threatening to tear Iraq apart. Iran rejects the charge and blames the presence of US forces, numbering about 162,000, for the mayhem.

Baghdad has urged both countries to negotiate and not fight out their differences on Iraqi soil.

''We regard Iraq's security as our own security and that of the region,'' Iranian First Vice-President Parviz Davoudi told Maliki as he was leaving Tehran, the IRNA news agency said.

''Establishment of stability and calm in Iraq depends on ...

the withdrawal of the occupying forces and an end to their interferences in Iraq and also on the authority of the government of Mr Maliki.'' Maliki described his talks in Iran as ''successful'', his office said in a statement issued in Baghdad, adding the security file was the main concern for both countries.

ECONOMIC COOPERATION Iranian media said the two sides had planned to sign security agreements, but few details were released about any concrete results apart from Iranian promises to help provide fuel to Iraq during the winter and with building a refinery.

Tehran and Baghdad are expected to agree a deal soon on a pipeline to transfer crude to refineries in Iran from oilfields in Iraq, whose oil industry has suffered major damage during decades of sanctions and war, Iranian media reports said.

Maliki, who also met Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and other senior officials, is facing mounting pressure to secure a power-sharing deal among Iraq's warring sects before a US report in September on strategy in Iraq.

But his government is in crisis, with almost half the cabinet ministers quitting or boycotting meetings, and the death toll from sectarian killings is steadily climbing.

''The terrorists want to take control ... but with God's help we foil all their plots,'' Maliki said.

The visit came after Iraqi, Iranian and US officials on Monday held the first meeting of a committee aimed at improving cooperation on stabilising Iraq.

It was set up after landmark meetings in Baghdad in May and July between Washington and Tehran, their most high-profile face-to-face dialogue since diplomatic ties were cut shortly after Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution.

Analysts say the two old foes, despite their mutual accusations, have a shared interest in ending the violence in Iraq. Iran wants a friendly government running a stable country while a secure Iraq would enable the United States to pull out.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari, accompanying Maliki, called on the two countries to continue their talks when he met his Iranian counterpart Manouchehr Mottaki, IRNA said.

REUTERS AE BST2038