Iran and US talk

IRAN said yesterday an international conference in Baghdad, where it held direct talks with the US for the first time in four years, was a constructive “first step” toward restoring stability to the neighbouring country.

Mohammad Ali Hosseini, spokesman for Iran’s Foreign Ministry, also said his country hoped a proposed follow-up meeting on Iraq would be successful.

Despite Hosseini’s optimistic words, on Saturday the US and Iranian envoys traded accusations blaming each other for Iraq’s violence.