Iran's envoy to the United Nations, Javad Zarif, will represent his country in its talks with Washington over Iraq's security next week, Iran's state-run Arabic television Alalam reported on Tuesday.

Zarif will meet US ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker in Baghdad on May 28 to discuss the security situation in Iraq at the ambassadorial level, Alalam reported on its website.
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But local Fars news agency on Tuesday quoted Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad-Ali Hosseini as saying that no one has been assigned as head of Iran's negotiators in talks with the United States.

"No specific person has yet been named as Iran's top negotiator for the talks," Hosseini told Fars.

US and Iranian officials are to meet in Baghdad on May 28 for talks on Iraq's security, just three days ahead of the next round of negotiations between Iran's top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana over Tehran's nuclear program.

Hosseini said on Monday that Iran will urge the United States to withdraw from Iraq in the upcoming talks.

Earlier on Tuesday, Iran's official IRNA news agency reported that it is possible that Iranian and US officials discuss issues related to Iran during the talks.

"In fact, talking with the United States over issues related to Iran is not an impossible matter," Mohammad-Javad Larijani, secretary of the Human Rights Headquarters of Iran's Judiciary was quoted as saying on Monday, adding that "However, this depends on the subject matters."

The UN Security Council unanimously adopted on March 24 a new resolution with tougher sanctions to pressure Iran to suspend uranium enrichment activities.

Iran has refused to heed the Security Council's demand, insisting that its nuclear programs are for peaceful purposes only.

The United States and some other Western countries have accused Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons under the cover of its civilian nuclear programs.

(Xinhua News Agency May 23, 2007)