NEWS MIDDLE EAST Iran and US hold 'positive' talks Kazemi-Qomi sat directly opposite Crocker in the meeting at al-Maliki's home in Baghdad [AFP] Talks between Iran and the US on Iraq's security situation have concluded "positively", the US ambassador to Iraq says. Ryan Crocker met his Iranian counterpart Hassan Kazemi-Qomi in Baghdad's Green Zone, the first public high level talks since ties were broken in 1980 and a reversal of Washington's policy not to negotiate with Iran. Monday's talks were confined to the limited agenda of Iraq's security. "Discussions focused on how we might support as effectively as possible Iraq, its people and its government in restoring peace and stability to the country and furthering a political reconciliation process," Crocker said. 'Positive' steps Although he said Iran and the US agreed in principle on Iraq security issues, "what we need to see is Iranian action on the ground". Your Views "Let the people of Iraq vote if they want the US to stay or leave" Bob Kaye, Bohemia, US Send us your views Kazemi-Qomi said Iran also saw "positive" steps in the talks. "Some problems have been raised and studied and I think this was a positive step ... In the political field, the two sides agreed to support and strengthen the Iraqi government, which was another positive item achieved in these talks," he told state television. Crocker said the Iranians had proposed setting up a mechanism with Iranian, US and Iraqi participation to co-ordinate on Iraq's security. He said he would refer the proposal to Washington. Kazemi-Qomi told reporters that Iran had offered to help train and arm Iraq's military. From Tehran, Manouchehr Mottaki , Iraq 's foreign minister, left open the possibility of future meetings with the US but only if Washington admitted its war in Iraq and other regional issues have not been successful. "We are hopeful that Washington's realistic outlook toward the current issues in Iraq, a confession about its failed policy there and the region as well as an indication of determination to change the policy would guarantee the success of the current talks and possible further negotiations." Crocker said that "the Iranians did not go into any great detail" during the meeting at the home of Nuri al-Maliki, the Iraqi prime minister, in Baghdad's fortified Green Zone. 'Opening of a door' "They made the assertion that the coalition presence was an occupation and the effort to train the Iraqi security forces had been inadequate to the challenges." It was the first high-level meeting between the two countries for 27 years. Iraqi officials also attended the meeting. Al-Maliki told both sides that Iraqis want a stable country free of foreign forces and regional interference. He also said that the US-led forces in Iraq were only here to help build up the army and police and the country would not be used as a launching ground for a US attack on its neighbours - a clear reference to Iran . Hoda Abdel-Hamid, Al Jazeera's Iraq correspondent, said that the meeting should be viewed as the "opening of a door". "Both parties are deeply suspicious of one another. The issues are complicated and intertwined, so you can't look at the I raq situation without looking at broader regional issues. "Publicly, the US wants Iran to stop training and providing the Shia militias with weapons, and logistical and financial support [and] Iran wants a US timetable for troop withdrawal from Iraq. " Iran has some of the strongest political and economic ties in Iraq . "[But] Iraq also needs the US at this stage because of its security situation. It cannot take care of security issues by itself," she said. Talks hailed Hoshiyar Zebari, the Iraqi foreign minister, said: "I think it is a positive development. We should encourage it and build on it. This is just the beginning of the process." Iran 's nuclear programme, which Washington believes to be a bid for developing atomic weapons, was not discussed at the meeting. Crocker said that the US expected Iran to propose a second meeting on Iraq . As the meeting ended, a truck bomb exploded outside one of Baghdad 's most revered shrines in the business district of Sinak, killing at least 19 people and damaging the Abdel Qadir Gilani mosque. Source: Al Jazeera and agencies
Ryan C. Crocker, U.S. Ambassador to Iraq.In talks mediated by Iraqi officials on Monday, the United States Ambassador to Iraq Ryan C. Crocker met for approximately four hours with Iranian officials in Baghdad's Green Zone, in what Ambassador Crocker described as a "businesslike" meeting.

It was the first formal meeting between the United States and Iran in 27 years. The meeting focused solely on the security situation in Iraq and the common interests of all three parties in improving stability in the country.

The U.S. and Iran broke off diplomatic contact following the 1980 hostage crisis and relations between the two continue to be strained over several issues, including Iran's nuclear program. 

U.S. ambassador Crocker made a point of indicating that the meetings were not to be characterized as bilateral between the U.S. and Iran. "The Iraqis were not only present and participating; in a very real sense, they took the lead in organizing discussion," said Crocker.

The first session was hosted by the Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, while the final session was hosted by Iraq's National Security Advisor Dr. Mowaffak al-Rubaie.

In a teleconference Monday following the meeting, Crocker suggested that the U.S. was able to find some common ground with Iran. "At the level of policy and principle, the Iranian position, as articulated by the Iranian Ambassador, was very close to our own," said Crocker. He indicated that the common principles are "support for a stable, secure, democratic, federal Iraq that is able to control its borders, is at peace with its neighbors and is bringing prosperity to its citizens."

However, Crocker did point out some areas of concern for the U.S. with regard Iran in what the U.S. sees as "Iranian behavior inconsistent with stated Iranian policy." U.S. concerns on alleged Iranian support for insurgent militias in Iraq was brought up at the meeting. "We told the Iranians today that their support for armed militia groups that are challenging the authority of the Iraqi Government and attacking coalition soldiers needs to stop."

Iran's ambassador to Iraq, Hassan Kazemi-Qomi, suggested some common ground was found with the United States and described the talks as "positive". "Some problems have been raised and studied and I think this was a positive step," said Kazemi-Qomi. "In the political field, the two sides agreed to support and strengthen the Iraqi government, which was another positive item achieved in these talks," Kazemi-Qomi told Iranian television.

Iraq's foreign minister, Manouchehr Mottaki, stressed that the U.S. needed to admit its current policies in Iraq were not working. "We are hopeful that Washington's realistic outlook toward the current issues in Iraq, a confession about its failed policy there and the region as well as an indication of determination to change the policy would guarantee the success of the current talks and possible further negotiations."

Iran signaled it would be willing to participate in further talks with the United States. Kazemi-Qomi declared the meeting "a first step in negotiations between these two sides."

On the question of whether or not further meetings between Iraq, Iran and the United States might be held, Crocker stated that "the Iraqi side indicated that they would want to issue an invitation for another meeting sometime in the near future." Once the U.S. received an invitation, Crocker said they would "give it close consideration, but nothing was fixed in this meeting with respect to a follow-on meeting."