TEHRAN -- The Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Committee Chairman Alaedin Borujerdi here on Friday said that talks between Iran and the United States over the security situation in Iraq are possible if Washington makes an official request.

“If the Iraqi government believes that Iran can aid it in resolving the problems of that country, talks between the Islamic Republic and the U.S. can be held on Iraq with an official request by the U.S.,” he told the Mehr News Agency.
He also expressed a positive view about the ongoing Istanbul conference for resolving problems in Iraq.
On Thursday, a Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council (SIIC) official Mohsen Hakim stated that a meeting between Iran and the U.S. on Iraq is possible on the sidelines of the Istanbul gathering.
Iranian Foreign Minister Manuchehr Mottaki is in Istanbul for talks on Iraq.
The Istanbul conference began against a backdrop of Turkish threats to take military action against Kurdish rebel bases in northern Iraq.
Foreign ministers and senior government officials from 17 countries -- Iraq, its neighbors, the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, and the G8 -- have gathered in Istanbul so as to adopt the text of a joint declaration by Saturday.
This is the second meeting held on this subject. Egypt had hosted the first meeting in May.
The final declaration is expected to call for increased efforts against all terrorist activities targeting Iraq and emanating from Iraq. Participants are also expected to discuss efforts to help end Iraq's sectarian violence, find ways to resolve the country's energy crisis and address the plight of four million Iraqis either displaced internally or fled to Jordan and Syria.