Iran is willing to open a dialogue with the United States to discuss the situation in Iraq, a senior official said today.
Iraqi Shia leader Abdul Aziz al-Hakim had called on Iran to help resolve disputed issues in Iraq.
Iranian officials had previously said Tehran was not interested in discussions before US troops pulled out of Iraq but Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran Supreme National Security Council, said "We will accept the proposal to help resolve the problems in Iraq and establish an independent government there as it was made by Mr. Hakim, a top Islamic leader in Iraq."
Abdul Aziz al-Hakim
There has been no immediate response from the United States, which is leading diplomatic efforts to isolate Iran over its nuclear ambitions.
Iran has repeatedly been accused by the United States of allowing weapons and insurgents to cross its borders into Iraq. Tehran denies the allegations.
Hakim, a leader in the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) who developed close ties with Iran when he opposed Saddam Hussein during years in exile there, called on Iran to open talks with the United States.
"We want the wise Iranian leadership to open a clear dialogue with America regarding Iraq and reach an understanding on disputed issues in Iraq, a dialogue for the benefit of the Iraqi people," he told a gathering of his supporters in comments televised on a Shia television channel.
The Sunday Times newspaper said its journalists in Tehran had been shown a letter by a senior Iranian intelligence agent that was purportedly from US envoy Zalmay Khalilzad and which invited Iran to send representatives to talks in Iraq.