Reuters: Iran needs to consider whether to hold further talks with the United States on security in Iraq after U.S. forces seized another Iranian there, Iran’s Foreign Ministry said on Sunday. TEHRAN (Reuters) – Iran needs to consider whether to hold further talks with the United States on security in Iraq after U.S. forces seized another Iranian there, Iran’s Foreign Ministry said on Sunday.
U.S. and Iranian officials have held three rounds of talks on security in Iraq since May, the most high-profile meetings since Washington cut ties with Tehran after students took U.S. diplomats hostage following the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
The United States accuses Iran of fomenting violence in Iraq, a charge it denies. Iran blames the U.S. occupation for Iraq’s problems and also complains about the detention of its citizens by U.S. forces in Iraq.
Asked about the possibility of further talks, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini said:
“In view of the fact that we have not seen any changes in American positions, and also they have taken certain actions which violate international laws …, we need to conduct further studies about the possibility of continuing with the negotiations.”
In his remarks to a news conference, carried by Iran’s English-langugage Press TV, Hosseini said one of the most recent acts he saw as a violation of international law was the “kidnapping” of an Iranian citizen.
The U.S. military said earlier in September that it had arrested an Iranian man — later named by Iran as Mahmoudi Farhadi — accused of smuggling roadside bombs into Iraq and training foreign fighters.
It has also denied accusations that five other Iranians held by U.S. forces since January were backing militants. Tehran says those five are diplomats and has demanded their release.
