29 April 2007 (Aljazeera)

Iran will attend a conference of key powers including the US this week that will focus on stabilising Iraq.

Iraq said the meeting might be a turning point for regional co-operation in easing the violence. 

Hoshiyar Zebari, the Iraq’s foreign minister, said on Sunday there was a “high possibility” that Tehran and Washington would hold bilateral talks at the May 3-4 conference in Egypt.

Zebari said any talks between Iran and the US would be important.

The US state department has said Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, will take part in the meeting at the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh and was open to direct talks with Iran over Iraq.

Tehran said it would send a delegation led by Manouchehr Mottaki, the foreign minister, “with the aim of helping the Iraqi nation and government”.

“I think it’s important, it would be a major breakthrough and any reduction in tensions will positively impact the situation in Iraq,” Zebari said in an interview without saying what he thought the US and Iran might discuss.

The high-level conference will bring together Iraq’s neighbours, including Syria and Turkey, and world powers.

In Tehran, Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini told state television: “We have emphasised that we are ready for any help to strengthen the government and political process in this country [Iraq].”

Ali Larijani, an Iranian official, arrived in Baghdad on Sunday to give Tehran’s formal response on attending the meeting in Egypt. IraqUpdates

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