Iran's supreme leader has pledged his country's help in quelling the violence in Iraq and demanded the withdrawal of foreign forces.
In a meeting with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei accused the United States of hiring terrorists and former members of Saddam Hussein's regime to destabilise Iraq, according to a state television report.
"The first step to resolve the instability in Iraq is the withdrawal of occupiers from this country and the transfer of security responsibilities to the popular Iraqi government," Khamenei was quoted as saying.
His comments came hours before the UN Security Council voted unanimously to extend for one year the mandate of the 160,000-strong force in Iraq.
Talabani arrived in Tehran on Monday for two days of talks with government officials to seek their support in quelling Iraq's violence. Iran, a Shia Muslim country, is known to have considerable influence among Iraq's Shia majority - elements of which have been blamed for the bulk of the recent attacks.
Talabani's meeting with Khamenei came a day before President Bush was due to discuss the Iraqi conflict with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in Jordan.
The Iraqi president was invited to Tehran by his Iranian counterpart, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who wants to enhance Iran's role in Iraq as a counter to US influence in the Gulf region.
In his meeting with Talabani, Khamenei said Iran considered it a "religious and humanitarian" duty to work for peace in Iraq.
"If asked by the Iraqi government, Iran won't spare any effort to contribute to stability and security in Iraq," Khamenei said.
"The main reason for the current situation in Iraq is America's policies," he added.
"Those (the Americans) who plotted against Iraq, and whose plans have not materialized, are intent on destabilizing the situation. Their agents on the ground are terrorists, the excommunicated and former Baathists," he said.
By "excommunicated," Khamenei appeared to be referring to the civil servants loyal to Saddam Hussein's Baath Party whom the US authorities expelled from the government in the early days of its occupation of Iraq.
Khamenei predicted the United States would fail in Iraq, saying "the occupation of Iraq is not a morsel that the US can swallow."
AP