(Agencies)
Updated: 2007-11-20 17:22

TEHRAN - Iran said on Tuesday it has agreed to a new round of talks with United States on improving security in Iraq, despite mounting tensions between the two arch-foes over the Iranian nuclear drive.

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, 03 November 2007, says Iran has agreed to a new round of talks with the United States on Iraq after Washington made an offer via the Swiss embassy in Tehran. [Agencies]

The new talks come after the United States said Iran has stemmed the flow of weapons and militants across the border, amid declining violence in its conflict-torn western neighbour.

Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said Washington had made an offer for the new talks via the Swiss embassy in Tehran, which looks after US interests in Iran in the absence of a US mission.

"The Swiss embassy in Iran passed on the message of the US government for a new round of talks on Iraq to my colleagues in the foreign ministry," Mottaki told reporters alongside his visiting Syrian counterpart Walid Muallem.

"Iran has agreed with this request within the framework of its policy of helping the Iraqi people. The exact date of the fourth round of the talks will be announced in the near future," he said.

The United States cut off diplomatic ties with Iran in 1980 during the 444 day siege of the US embassy in Tehran by student militants in the aftermath of the 1979 Islamic revolution.

Iran and the United States have already held three rounds of talks over Iraq this year. The sheer fact the talks took place despite such an acrimonious history was hailed as a landmark event.

US ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker and his Iranian counterpart Hassan Kazemi Qomi have held two sets of face-to-face talks May 28 and July 24, the highest level public contacts between the two sides for 27 years.

The two sides also met at experts level on August 6 but no meeting has been held since then.

All the talks failed to achieve a major breakthrough and were marked by mutual accusations over who was to blame for the violence in Iraq.

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