Iran, US experts meet on Iraq security

BAGHDAD: Iranian and US officials held security talks in Baghdad on Monday in a bid to ease the violent insurgency in war-torn Iraq that has put the two arch-foes at loggerheads, a US official said.

The meeting began at the office of Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki in the heavily fortified Green Zone that houses the government and US embassy, the official said on condition of anonymity. 

"It's at experts' level, people who are experts in the security field," said another US embassy official. "This is an Iraqi-led trilateral meeting... As far as I know, only security will be discussed." 

In Tehran, the ISNA news agency quoted Iran's ambassador in Baghdad, Hossein Kazemi Qomi, as confirming Iran-US talks would begin in Baghdad on Monday.

Kazemi Qomi had told ISNA that talks with the Americans this week would discuss the makeup and responsibilities of a tripartite security committee.

On July 24 the delegations of Iran and the United States, led by Kazemi Qomi and US ambassador to Baghdad Ryan Crocker respectively, were unable to agree during a landmark second meeting on ways to restore security to Iraq.

But the two did agree to create a tripartite security committee aimed at curbing militia activity, battling Al-Qaeda and securing borders, but without reference to the Shiite militias Iran stands accused of arming.

Late on Sunday, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani urged the next round of security talks to be "taken seriously" when he met the Iranian delegation to the talks with the Americans, his office said.

"Talabani expressed the wish that the Iranian side would play a positive role, in keeping with the hopes of the Iraqi people," it said.

"His excellency expressed hope that the tripartite meeting would be successful, stressing the importance of the talks and that success would be for the benefit of all."

The US military in Iraq regularly accuses groups linked to Iran of training extremists in the war-ravaged country and supplying them with explosives capable of penetrating American armoured vehicles.

Iran denies supporting insurgent groups in Iraq.

US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack on July 25 confirmed that Washington was examining the idea of establishing a subcommittee "which would actually be lower level, technically oriented officials."