Following an international conference in Baghdad that formed Tehran and Washington's first direct talks since 2003, Iran's Foreign Ministry Sunday hailed it as constructive and a first step in ensuring security and stability in its war-stricken neighbor, reiterating that Iran would stand behind any plan aiming to bring peace to Iraq.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini also expressed Iran's strong hopes that a touted second meeting would be equally successful. Teheran also expressed hope that a proposed second, follow-up meeting on Iraq would be successful, according to AP's report.

However, Hosseini refused to state whether Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki would attend an eventual second meeting.

Despite Hosseini's optimistic words, the Baghdad meeting on Saturday still saw a barrage of criticisms traded between the US and Iranian, each accusing the other for having mired Iraq in its current crisis.

During the talks, US envoy David Satterfield indicated that his briefcase contained documents that proved Iran was arming Shi'ite Muslim militias in Iraq.

"Your accusations are merely a cover for your failures in Iraq," retorted Iran's chief envoy Abbas Araghchi, according to an anonymous source close to the discussions.

US Ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, stated that the delegates from both nations simply exchanged views "directly and in the presence of others" during talks, in a "constructive and businesslike" fashion.

The delegates further proposed an "expanded" follow-up meeting, which could include the G-8 nations among others to be held next month in Istanbul, Turkey. However, the response from Iraqi officials stated they would push for the meetings to keep occurring in Baghdad.?

(China Daily via agencies March 12, 2007)