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U.S., Iran begin talks on Iraq security

DUBAI: Senior officials from Iran the United States have set in motion a new mechanism for talks that focuses on ways to ensure security in Iraq, even as 36 persons were killed in two blasts in the war-torn country.

An Iran-U.S. subcommittee on security met on Monday in Baghdad at the residence of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Iran’s deputy head of mission in Iraq, Amir Abdollahian, led the talks, while the American delegation was headed by Marcie Ries, a senior diplomat at the U.S. embassy in Baghdad. Iraqi officials were also present at the talks. The formation of the new security forum was the result of two rounds of ambassadorial level of talks which were earlier held between the two sides in the Iraqi capital. The main purpose of the subcommittee is to recommend ways to end sectarian violence in Iraq.

Other issues that are under discussion include the alleged supply of armour-piercing ammunition to Iraqi militants by Iran. The Iranians have been calling for the exit of American forces, which they say is the root cause of violence in Iraq.

As the two delegations spoke, Iran demonstrated its military muscle by announcing that it had successfully developed a fighter jet on its own. Iran’s Defence Minister, Mostafa Mohammad Najjar, said the industrial scale manufacture of the Azarakhsh fighter jet had begun. The plane was successfully flight tested on Sunday. The Minister also said that Iran had begun designing a state-of-the-art fifth generation fighter jet indigenously.

In parallel with the talks in Baghdad, Iranian officials have begun engaging representatives of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Tehran. The IAEA officials, led by Michiro Hosaya, arrived in the Iranian capital in the early hours of Monday. would help ease tensions regarding Tehran’s atomic programme and ward off fresh United Nations sanctions.

DPA reports:

At least 36 persons were killed and 59 wounded in two blasts on Monday in Baghdad and in the northern city of Tal Afar, sources said. A suicide truck bomb driven into a densely populated Shia area in Tal Afar killed at least 28 persons, including 12 children, a police source said.

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