IRAQ: American and Iranian officials will hold talks in Baghdad today to discuss security in Iraq, where Washington accuses Tehran of stoking violence.
The meeting, between US ambassador Ryan Crocker and his Iranian counterpart, Hassan Kazemi-Qomi, marks a policy reversal by Washington, which broke ties with Iran in 1980 and has largely sought to isolate the Islamic republic in recent years.
Iran's nuclear programme, which Washington believes to be a bid to develop nuclear weapons under cover of generating electricity, will not be discussed. Iraq has welcomed the meeting.
"I think it is a positive development," Iraqi foreign minister Hoshiyar Zebari said. "We should encourage it and build on it. This is just the beginning of the process." Iraqi officials will also attend the talks, the location of which has not been disclosed.
The meeting comes as a flotilla of US warships holds war games on Iran's doorstep in the Gulf and two days after Tehran said it had uncovered Western spy networks on its territory.
The Iranian foreign ministry yesterday summoned the Swiss ambassador, who represents US interests in Tehran, to condemn what it said was US backing for the spy networks, the ISNA students' news agency said.
Anthony Cordesman, a Middle East expert at Washington's Center for Strategic and International Studies, cautioned against expecting too much from the talks.
"One needs to be very careful about confusing progress with dialogue," Mr Cordesman said. "The US knows what it wants from Iran . . . but it is far from clear that it can get it. The US wants Iran to stop support for Shia militias and providing arms. At the same time the administration cannot offer much in return."
In the past few months, the US military has displayed explosively formed penetrators (EFPs) - a particularly deadly roadside bomb - and other weapons it says are being supplied by Iran to Iraqi militants to target American soldiers.
Iran denies it is fomenting violence and has called on US forces to get out of Iraq, saying their presence is fuelling sectarian violence between Sunnis and majority Shias.
The US military also says Shia militias are receiving funding and training in Iran.
In February, US troops detained five Iranians accused of ties to Iran's Revolutionary Guards, angering Iran, which insists they are diplomats.
Meanwhile the US military said yesterday that two US soldiers had been killed in Iraq,pushing May to the brink of becoming the deadliest month for US forces this year. A total of 103 US soldiers have been killed so far in May, one fewer than in April, so far the worst month this year for US deaths.