The United States urged Iran today to stop supporting militias in Iraq in the most high-profile meeting between the two countries in almost 30 years that both sides later described as positive.
The rare talks in Baghdad were narrowly focused on Iraq's spiralling sectarian violence and did not touch on Iran 's controversial nuclear programme, which has ratcheted up tensions between the two arch foes in recent months.
"Positive" was how both sides characterised the four-hour meeting that began with a handshake between US ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker and his Iranian counterpart Hassan Kazemi-Qomi at Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's office in Baghdad.
In new violence in Iraq, a truck bomb exploded near an important Sunni Muslim mosque in central Baghdad, killing 24 people and wounding 68 others shortly after the talks broke up.
The Iranians appeared keen for further talks, with Kazemi-Qomi calling the meeting "a first step in negotiations between these two sides" and saying Tehran would seriously consider an Iraqi invitation for further discussions.
For his part, Crocker said he had been less interested in arranging further meetings than laying out Washington's case that Shia Iran is arming, funding and training Shia militias in Iraq, a charge Iran denies.
He said he did not produce any evidence, although the US military has previously displayed what it says are Iranian-made rockets, mortars and roadside bombs seized in Iraq. The military says the bombs have killed scores of American soldiers.
"The purpose of this effort was not to build a legal case. Presumably the Iranians know what they are doing. Our point was simply to say we know as well. We wanted to say it is dangerous for Iraq and dangerous for the region," Crocker said.
"The talks proceeded positively. What we need to see is Iranian action on the ground. Right now their actions are running at cross purposes to their stated policy."
Kazemi-Qomi, speaking at a separate media conference several hours later, said Iran also saw positive steps in the talks.
"Some problems have been raised and studied and I think this was a positive step ... In the political field, the two sides agreed to support and strengthen the Iraqi government, which was another positive item achieved in these talks," he said.
He said Iran had offered to help train and arm Iraq's security forces, presently the job of the US military.
The meeting marked a shift in the US policy of shunning almost all contact with Iranian officials since Washington severed formal diplomatic ties with Tehran in 1980, 14 months after Iran 's Islamic Revolution and five months after Americans were seized in a hostage crisis at the US embassy in Tehran.
Crocker said he would refer to Washington a proposal by the Iranians for a mechanism with Iranian, US and Iraqi participation to coordinate Iraqi security matters.