Iran: US exit key to Iraq peace
Hmmmm the Shiite leader of Iraq meeting with the Shiite leader of Iran after 24 years
of the 2 countries not speaking to one another? …does this mean that the US media
will finally admit that a civil war has over run Iraq?…BBC discusses this historic meeting.
US troops must leave Iraq if security is to be restored, Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has said during talks with the Iraqi president.
The instability of Iraq was detrimental to all countries in the region and the US had no hope of improving the situation, Ayatollah Khamenei said.
President Jalal Talabani is in Tehran to try to secure Iran’s help in curbing the escalating violence in Iraq.
The US is also interested in involving Iran, but it is unclear at what price.
On his way to a Nato summit in Latvia, President Bush said in order for the US to open a dialogue with Iran, the Iranians would have to “verifiably suspend” its nuclear fuel enrichment programme, which could be used in weapons production.
But although Washington may find it awkward seeing Iran as a growing powerbroker in Iraq, correspondents say, direct talks between Iran and Iraq to resolve the crisis may to some extent let the Bush administration off the hook.
‘Civil war’
On Monday, Mr Talabani held talks with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who said Iran was ready to do whatever it could.
Mr Ahmadinejad also stressed that a secure, progressive and powerful Iraq was in the interests of Iran and the whole region.
Mr Talabani, a Farsi speaker, is the first Iraqi head of state to visit Tehran in almost four decades.
“The issue of establishing security in Iraq is the most important part of our talks. We are in dire need of Iran’s help in establishing security and stability in Iraq,” Mr Talabani was quoted as saying on Iran’s state-run TV.
The past week has been one of the bloodiest in Iraq since the American-led invasion in 2003.
On Monday, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan told reporters in New York that drastic action was needed to prevent a civil war.
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