The Washington Times
  • Subscribe
  • Times News Services
  • RSS
  • Mobile Headlines
  • e-edition
  • E-MAIL ALERTS
  • REGISTER
  • LOG IN
  • E-MAIL ALERTS
  • WELCOME
  • Your Profile
  • Log Out
  • Front Page Image
  • Classifieds
  • Autos
  • Real Estate
  • Jobs
  • Special Sections
  • Customer Service
  • Home
  • News
  • Opinion
  • Sports
    • NFL
    • NBA/WNBA
    • MLB
    • NHL
    • Tennis
    • Golf
    • Motorsports
    • Soccer
    • NCAA
    • Olympics
    • Outdoors
    • Other
  • Culture
    • Home & Living
    • Family & Kids
    • Fashion
    • Food
    • Travel
    • Health
    • Washington Visitors
    • Books
    • Military History
    • Life
    • Auto
    • TV Listings
    • Movie Listings
    • Death Notices
    • Entertainment
  • Themes
  • Communities
  • Shopping
    • Stores
    • Coupons
    • Daily Double
    • Promotion
    • How It Works
  • Videos
    • Two Guys
    • Birnbaum on Washington
    • Liz Glover
    • Amanda Carpenter
    • Morning Briefing
    • Documentaries
    • Joe Giganti
    • Video Game Minute
  • Podcasts
    • About Headlines
    • Audio and Radio
    • America's Morning News
  • National

    VAN CLEAVE: A Thanksgiving message from Russia's spy agency

  • National

    HOLMES: Behind Obama's overseas allure

  • World

    Thailand seeks U.S. help battling insurgents

  • Politics

    Obama taking emissions goal to summit

  • Business

    Retailers banking on Black Friday

  • World

    Corruption stain puts Pakistan leader at risk

  • Politics

    Courage the turkey escapes Obama's plate

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Talks revive U.S.-Iran ties

Rate this story

Average 0.00
after 0 votes
Login or register to rate this story

  • Font Size -+
  • Print
  • Email
  • Comment
  • Tweet this!
  • Share
  • Article
  • Comments ()
  • Click-2-Listen
  • Videos

More Stories

  • IAEA: Iran investigation at 'dead end'
  • Swiss court grants Polanski bail
  • Lawyer says White House dinner crashers shouldn't need him
  • Courage the turkey escapes Obama's plate

By

BAGHDAD - The United States and Iran broke a 27-year diplomatic freeze yesterday with a four-hour meeting on Iraqi security. The American envoy said there was broad policy agreement but that Iran must stop arming and financing militants who are attacking U.S. and Iraqi forces.

Iranian Ambassador Hassan Kazemi Qomi said in an interview that the two sides would meet again in less than a month. U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker said Washington would decide only after the Iraqi government issued an invitation.

"We don't have a formal invitation to respond to just yet, so it doesn't make sense to respond to what we don't have," Mr. Crocker told reporters after the meeting.

The talks in the Green Zone offices of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki were the first formal and scheduled meeting between Iranian and American government officials since the United States broke diplomatic relations with Tehran after the 1979 Islamic Revolution and the seizure of the U.S. Embassy.

A reporter who witnessed the opening of the session said Mr. Crocker and Mr. Kazemi shook hands.

The American envoy called the meeting "businesslike" and said at "the level of policy and principle, the Iranian position as articulated by the Iranian ambassador was very close to our own."

However, he said: "What we would obviously like to see and the Iraqis would clearly like to see is an action by Iran on the ground to bring what it's actually doing in line with its stated policy."

Speaking later at a press conference in the Iranian Embassy, Mr. Kazemi said: "We don't take the American accusations seriously."

Mr. Crocker declined to detail what Mr. Kazemi had said in the session, but the Iranian diplomat formerly a top official in the elite Revolutionary Guards Quds Force said he had offered to train and equip the Iraqi army and police to create "a new military and security structure" for Iraq.

Mr. Kazemi said U.S. efforts to rebuild those forces were inadequate to handle the chaos in Iraq, for which he said Washington bore sole responsibility. He said he also had offered to provide what assistance Iran could in rebuilding Iraq's infrastructure, which he said had been "demolished by the American invaders."

12Next »

Post a comment

There are comments on this article, submit your opinion!

Commenting is disabled for this entry.
If you feel there is still something worth mentioning about this entry please contact the author or the site admin.

Ask a Question

You Report

Do you have another point of view, photos, audio, video or more information about a story?

Top Stories

Most Read

  1. EDITORIAL: Hiding evidence of global cooling
  2. Top Republican lawmakers not attending State Dinner
  3. Fenty trails Gray in D.C. poll
  4. Conservatives seek test for RNC funds
  5. Food snobs fork over $225 for taste of heritage turkey
More Top Stories »
  1. Climate 'czar' says hacked e-mails don't change anything
  2. D.C. sports icon, Wizards owner Pollin dies
  3. List of W.H. state dinner guests
  4. PRUDEN: Obama's due process doctrine
  5. EDITORIAL: Obama's sacked inspector general

Most Shared

  1. EDITORIAL: Hiding evidence of global cooling
  2. EDITORIAL: The duty of a nation to obey God
  3. Climate 'czar' says hacked e-mails don't change anything
  4. Grade-schooler unearths fossil at dinosaur park
  5. The global-cooling cover-up
More Top Stories »
  1. Climate czar rejects doctored data claims
  2. The United Socialist States of America
  3. VAN CLEAVE: A Thanksgiving message from Russia's spy agency
  4. EDITORIAL: A call to prayer and repentance
  5. EDITORIAL: Kennedy vs. Catholicism

Most Commented

  1. EDITORIAL: Hiding evidence of global cooling
  2. Climate 'czar' says hacked e-mails don't change anything
  3. Climate czar rejects doctored data claims
  4. Obama to attend Denmark climate summit
  5. Ky. hanging, ruled a suicide, leaves bloggers at loss for words
More Top Stories »
  1. EDITORIAL: Obama's sacked inspector general
  2. A-listers, fundraisers at W.H. state dinner
  3. EDITORIAL: The duty of a nation to obey God
  4. EDITORIAL: Kennedy vs. Catholicism
  5. Obama taking emissions goal to summit

Listen to Washington Times Radio

  • America's Morning News

    with John McCaslin and Melanie Morgan

Blogs & Columns

  • Hot Button Blog

    RNC: Breast cancer recommendations may lead to 'rationing'

  • Belief Blog

    Evangelicals OK civil disobedience

  • Out of Context

    Foods that might kill libido

  • On the Fly

    United lifts some 'award' blocking

  • Technology

    Facebook wins round against phishing spammer

  • Redskins 360

    Redskins matchup

  • SNOBlog

    Beyond 'Woody'

Videos

Advertising Links
TWT Store
  • e-edition
  • Print Edition
  • Weekly Washington Times
TWT Affiliates
  • Middle East Times
  • Golf
  • UPI
  • Arbor Ballroom
  • Washington Times Global
  • About TWT
  • Press Room
  • F.A.Q.
  • Work for TWT
  • Advertise
  • Sponsors
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Site Map

All site contents © Copyright 2009 The Washington Times, LLC.