(Agencies)
Updated: 2007-12-25 10:11

BAGHDAD -- Iran wants to renew high-level talks with US officials on security in Iraq, insisting that discussions take place between ambassadors and not lower-level functionaries, Iraqi officials said Monday.

US Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker, right, and his Iranian counterpart Hassan Kazemi Qomi, left, attend a meeting on security in Iraq at the Iraqi Prime Minister's office in the Green Zone, Baghdad in this Monday, May 28, 2007 file photo. [Agencies]

The Iranians also want a clear-cut agenda for the meeting, which the American side has not yet provided, according to Sami al-Askari, an adviser to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and a member of parliament. Three Iraqi officials confirmed his account, speaking on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak to the media.

In Washington, the State Department said three-way talks including Iraq were likely to be held in a couple of weeks. Spokesman Tom Casey said that "as always, the talks would be restricted to issues related to Iraq's security." He said Iraq is eager to hold another round and is working on a date.

There was no immediate comment or confirmation from Iran's Foreign Ministry or state media.

A May 28 meeting concerning security in Iraq between US Ambassador Ryan Crocker and his Iranian counterpart, Hassan Kazemi Qomi, broke a 27-year diplomatic freeze between the two countries.

A planned December 18 meeting between Iranian and American security, military and diplomatic experts was canceled a few days before it was to be held. At the time, Iranian officials said it was a scheduling problem while US officials referred questions to the Iraqi Foreign Ministry.

American officials have since pointed out that December 18 was the day Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made a surprise visit to Iraq, which forced the postponement of the meeting. For security reasons, they said they could not disclose Rice's arrival date ahead of time.

Since then, top Iranian officials in Baghdad have asked their Iraqi counterparts to push the Americans to hold a fourth-round of talks between Crocker and Qomi, an Iranian official told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. The two last met in August, shortly after the first and only meeting of low-level experts, which produced no concrete results.

Iran has long been accused by Washington of training, arming and funding Shiite extremists inside Iraq to kill American troops.

But in the past month, US officials have said Tehran appears to have slowed or halted the flow of illegal weapons across the frontier. Iran has denied the arms smuggling accusations, insisting that it is doing its best to help stabilize its embattled western neighbor.

Crocker told reporters during a Sunday briefing in Baghdad that he would be willing to meet Qomi again, but said no date had been set for a meeting at any level.

"I would be open to this. We could do it at the experts' level or we could do it at my level. I would definitely see that as a possibility," he said. "We're looking at what we might talk about, which I think is the first and necessary step before deciding who talks about it."

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