Iran denies Afghan summit invite report

UPI: Iran hasn't officially accepted a U.S. invitation to take part in an upcoming conference on Afghanistan, a, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman said Friday.

United Press International

TEHRAN, March 13 (UPI) — Iran hasn't officially accepted a U.S. invitation to take part in an upcoming conference on Afghanistan, a, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman said Friday.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hassan Qashqavi denied a Fars News Agency report Thursday that claimed he had confirmed Iran had officially accepted the Afghan summit invitation, the news agency said.

"It is necessary to say that I didn't have any public or private interview or talks with media during this week as I was busy all the time with participating in the Economic Cooperation Organization summit in Tehran," Qashqavi said.

Qashqavi also denied similar reports in an Italian newspaper, Presstv and the Islamic students news agency.

The media reports on the U.S. invitation occurred despite Iranian Vice President Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie's comment Thursday that the United States has yet to officially invite Iran to take part in the Afghan talks.

"We have received some news about Mrs. Clinton's overtures, but we have not received an official invitation to any summit," Mashaie said, referring to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.