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No bilateral talks with US on Tehran's agenda: Hosseini

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Tehran, March 10, IRNA
Iran-US-Talks
Foreign Ministry spokesman, Mohammad-Ali Hosseini, said on Monday that no bilateral talks with the US was on Tehran's agenda for the time being.

"The US side should take further steps for confidence-building in order to provide a new opportunity," Hosseini told reporters at his weekly press briefing.

He stressed that Washington has not only continued its hostile policy towards Iran, but it has also intensified the policy.

The spokesman said, "No," when asked if there was any connection between the visit to Iraq of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the delay in resumption of the fourth round of Iran-Iraq-US talks on the security situation in Iraq.

The Iranian president visited Iraq from March 2-3 on a landmark visit during which the two sides signed a number of memoranda of understanding for bilateral cooperation.

The Iranian and US officials have so far held three rounds of talks on Iraq situation on May 28, July 24 and August 6, 2007 respectively.

However, the fourth round of their talks has so far been delayed due to some "technical reasons."

Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said on March 9 that the delay in resumption of Iran-US talks on Iraq was due to technical reasons.

The fourth round of talks was to be held at the request of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki from Iran.

According to reports, al-Maliki and Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari, in their separate meetings with the Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad last week, called for resumption of Iran-US talks on Iraq Prior to the visit of the Iranian president to Baghdad, the US had voiced readiness to attend talks on Iraq's security.

On March 5, an Iranian delegation arrived in Baghdad for the fourth round of talks with the US on Iraq's security which was due to be held on March 6 (Thursday).

However, the US side announced on Thursday that it was not well-prepared to attend the trilateral talks on Iraq's security.

Political analysts believed that the US was totally confused after President Ahmadinejad's visit to Iraq and the warm welcome he has received by the Iraqi people and officials, so that US officials failed to make a decision on resumption of their talks with Iran on the situation in Iraq.

Readiness of the Iranian delegation to take part in the trilateral meeting on Iraq once more proved the falsehood of US allegations that Iran was after insecurity in Iraq.

"The talks were expected to be held on Thursday but a few hours before the talks, the Iraqi officials told the Iranian delegation on behalf of the US side that the US was not ready for the talks," Hosseini told reporters.

He added that the US officials have not mentioned any reason for their failure to hold talks.

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