Iraqi PM says Baghdad trying to host Iran-US talks
Iraq’s Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said on Saturday that Baghdad seeks to host a face-to-face meeting between Iranian and US officials to resolve their differences over Iran’s nuclear program.
Sudani told Lebanese TV channel Al-Mayadeen that efforts are underway to arrange the meeting but it needs guarantees because previous talks in other countries failed to produce results due to threatening language and empty promises, which the Iranian side does not accept.
Sudani stressed that both sides are ready for resumption of talks. However, he said Iran underlines that any negotiations must be serious, not dictated and without threats.
"Part of my conversation with (US envoy) Tom Barrack when he visited Baghdad, was to bring the views between Tehran and America closer, and he asked me how to deal with the situation, and I told him that it should be treated with respect."
“It is not acceptable to reach an agreement and hours later an attack takes place," Sudani said he told Barrack.
His remarks appeared to refer to an aggression by the Israeli regime against Iran in June.
Iran and the US were in the middle of nuclear negotiations in June when Israel launched the surprise attack on Iran, a few days before the sixth round of talks between Tehran and Washington.
More than a week later, the US also entered the war by bombing three Iranian nuclear sites in a grave violation of the United Nations Charter, international law, and the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
On June 24, Iran, through its successful retaliatory operations against both the Israeli regime and the US, managed to impose a halt to the illegal assault.