Iran says no connection between Iraq, nuclear issues

Iran said on Sunday that Tehran does not agree with connecting Iran's nuclear program and the Iraqi issue, the official IRNA news agency reported.

"We do not want any connection between the nuclear talks and the discussions on Iraq," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad-Ali Hosseini was quoted as saying at his weekly press conference.

"If others are intended to create a link between the two cases, we reject it," he added.

U.S. 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.

Asked whether a representative from Syria would also attend the U.S.-Iran talks on Iraq slated for May 28, Hosseini said, "Syria plays no role in the talks but an Iraqi representative will be present at the meeting."

Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Wednesday stated that Tehran's policy of not negotiating with Washington was unchanged though there will be talks with the United States over Iraq.

The talks would not mean a breakthrough between the two foes as Iran would merely use the talks with U.S. diplomats to remind Washington of its "occupiers' duty" in the conflict-torn Iraq, state-run television quoted Khamenei as saying.

"The Iranian foreign ministry, at the request of Iraq, decided to participate in face-to-face talks with the United States and remind them of their duties and responsibilities over the security of Iraq," said the Iranian leader.