TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Iranian President To Visit Iraq

ADVERTISEMENT

The Washington Post

Published: February 15, 2008

BAGHDAD - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will travel to Iraq next month in the first such visit by an Iranian leader, Iraqi officials said Thursday, adding that Iran had postponed a fourth round of talks with the United States about Iraq's security.

Invited by Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, Ahmadinejad is scheduled to arrive March 2 for a visit of two to three days to discuss bilateral relations, the officials said. He will also meet with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

The two neighbors fought an intense, eight-year conflict in the 1980s during the rule of Saddam Hussein. But the ascent of a Shiite-dominated government in Iraq after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion ushered in a new era of friendship with Iran's Shiite theocracy.

The United States and Iran set aside their own animosities and held three rounds of talks to discuss ways to improve Iraq's security. But on Thursday, Iran postponed the next session for the fourth time, Iranian and Iraqi officials said.

"These negotiations have been postponed, not canceled," said an Iranian diplomat in the nation's Baghdad embassy. "We believe these negotiations should continue, but we postponed them for technical problems."

The diplomat declined to elaborate.

A U.S. Embassy spokeswoman said Iran seemed increasingly unwilling to meet for the discussions, which had been scheduled for today.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT