TEHRAN -- Iraqi ambassador to Tehran, Mohammad Majid al-Sheikh, said here on Friday that Iraq wants Iran and the U.S. to continue talks over security situation in Iraq “at the level of foreign minister or deputy foreign minister.”

The Iranian and U.S. ambassadors to Iraq, Hassan Kazemi-Qomi and Ryan Crocker, met on August 6 in Baghdad for their third round of security talks. The first and second rounds of negotiations were held in Baghdad on May 28 and July 24.
The negotiations have so far led to the establishment of a trilateral security committee between Iran, U.S., and Iraq to investigate issues such as support for militias and al-Qaeda in Iraq.
The Islamic Republic and the United States are scheduled to hold their fourth round of talks at expert level in early January 2008, Mohammad Majid al-Sheikh said.
He added that Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim, Iraqi Islamic Council chairman, has held negotiations with Iranian and Iraqi officials to have the two sides raise the level of talks.
Although the previous rounds of negotiations have been constructive, the talks have yet to continue to complement the outcome of the previous meetings, the Iraqi envoy observed.
He said the negotiations are aimed at improving “Iraq’s security and studying issues related to its national sovereignty.” However, he expressed hope that the talks will also resolve the current problems between Iranian and U.S. governments.
Hakim had earlier stated that Iraq was prepared to mediate between Iran and the United States in order to help resolve their problems, he added.
Negotiation is “the only and the most proper” solution to problems between countries, said the ambassador, adding that a diplomatic settlement of disputes between Tehran and Washington “will benefit the two countries, the (Middle East) region and the world.”
Iran and the U.S. are at loggerheads over Tehran’s nuclear program. Washington wants Iran to suspend its nuclear enrichment plan as a precondition for talks. However, Tehran says it has legal right to enrichment for civilian purposes as a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty