Tehran, Iran (AP) -- Iran on Sunday confirmed it will attend this week's conference on Iraq in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheik, saying its delegation will be headed by its foreign minister.
The announcement will be widely welcomed as Iran, a Muslim Shiite-majority nation, has considerable influence among Iraqi Shiites, who now lead the Baghdad government. Iran is also suspected of having influential links with Shiite insurgent groups -- although it has repeatedly denied such ties.
"A high-ranking delegation headed by Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki will attend the Egyptian conference on Iraq," Foreign Ministy spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini said in an interview with state television.
Hours earlier, the Iraqi prime minister's office had announced that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had called to say his country would send a delegation to the two-day conference, which begins on Thursday.
"The decision came after consultations between Iraqi officials and the Iranian president," Hosseini said in the telephone interview, which was played on state TV.
Until Sunday, Iran had been the only country not to have announced its participation in the conference. All of Iraq's other neighbors as well as Egypt, Bahrain and representatives of the big five U.N. Security Council members have agreed to attend.
Hosseini's announcement came shortly after a top Iranian envoy, Ali Larijani, arrived in Baghdad for talks on issues to be raised at the conference. Hosseini said earlier Sunday that Larijani was going to the Iraqi capital because Iran had "some questions and ambiguities about the agenda."
In Baghdad, an adviser in the prime minister's office, Sadiq al-Rikabi, confirmed Larijani would meet senior Iraqi officials. "It is a very important visit," he added.
Last week Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari came to Tehran to try to persuade the government to attend the conference, and told reporters Iran's participation was "vital."
Earlier Sunday, the head of the Iranian parliamentary committee on national security and foreign policy, Alaeddin Boroojerdi, said an Iranian delegation should go to Sharm el-Sheik.
"Iran should attend the conference, actively and powerfully," Boroojerdi was quoted as saying by IRNA.
Boroojerdi added that if Iran did not participate, it would lay itself open to criticism from the United States.
Iran has considerable influence among Shiite parties in Iraq, who now lead the country's government. It is also alleged to have links with Shiite insurgent groups, which is why numerous American politicians and analysts have urged Washington to engage Tehran in talks designed to curb the violence in Iraq.
U.S. President George W. Bush on Tuesday signaled that the conference could provide an opportunity for one-on-one talks between his administration and Iran, but he stressed that Tehran's nuclear program would not be on the table.
He said U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice might have bilateral conversations at the conference. "They could. They could," Bush told PBS' "The Charlie Rose Show.".
The United States cut diplomatic ties with Iran following the 1979 storming of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. Although there have been periodic diplomatic contacts, the Bush administration has resisted pressure at home and abroad to engage Iran one-on-one in an effort to improve security in neighboring Iraq.
That policy began to change this spring. Although it is not inviting a broad conversation, the administration has repeatedly said it will not rule out sideline talks with either Iran or Syria at the conference May 3-4 at Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheik.
Such contact would follow the model established last month when lower-level State Department officials had cordial discussions with Iranian and Syrian diplomats.
Bush said if a meeting occurs, Rice's message to the Iranians would be: "Don't send weapons in (to Iraq) that will end up hurting our troops, and help this young democracy survive."
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The announcement will be widely welcomed as Iran, a Muslim Shiite-majority nation, has considerable influence among Iraqi Shiites, who now lead the Baghdad government. Iran is also suspected of having influential links with Shiite insurgent groups -- although it has repeatedly denied such ties.
"A high-ranking delegation headed by Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki will attend the Egyptian conference on Iraq," Foreign Ministy spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini said in an interview with state television.
Hours earlier, the Iraqi prime minister's office had announced that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had called to say his country would send a delegation to the two-day conference, which begins on Thursday.
"The decision came after consultations between Iraqi officials and the Iranian president," Hosseini said in the telephone interview, which was played on state TV.
Until Sunday, Iran had been the only country not to have announced its participation in the conference. All of Iraq's other neighbors as well as Egypt, Bahrain and representatives of the big five U.N. Security Council members have agreed to attend.
Hosseini's announcement came shortly after a top Iranian envoy, Ali Larijani, arrived in Baghdad for talks on issues to be raised at the conference. Hosseini said earlier Sunday that Larijani was going to the Iraqi capital because Iran had "some questions and ambiguities about the agenda."
In Baghdad, an adviser in the prime minister's office, Sadiq al-Rikabi, confirmed Larijani would meet senior Iraqi officials. "It is a very important visit," he added.
Last week Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari came to Tehran to try to persuade the government to attend the conference, and told reporters Iran's participation was "vital."
Earlier Sunday, the head of the Iranian parliamentary committee on national security and foreign policy, Alaeddin Boroojerdi, said an Iranian delegation should go to Sharm el-Sheik.
"Iran should attend the conference, actively and powerfully," Boroojerdi was quoted as saying by IRNA.
Boroojerdi added that if Iran did not participate, it would lay itself open to criticism from the United States.
Iran has considerable influence among Shiite parties in Iraq, who now lead the country's government. It is also alleged to have links with Shiite insurgent groups, which is why numerous American politicians and analysts have urged Washington to engage Tehran in talks designed to curb the violence in Iraq.
U.S. President George W. Bush on Tuesday signaled that the conference could provide an opportunity for one-on-one talks between his administration and Iran, but he stressed that Tehran's nuclear program would not be on the table.
He said U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice might have bilateral conversations at the conference. "They could. They could," Bush told PBS' "The Charlie Rose Show.".
The United States cut diplomatic ties with Iran following the 1979 storming of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. Although there have been periodic diplomatic contacts, the Bush administration has resisted pressure at home and abroad to engage Iran one-on-one in an effort to improve security in neighboring Iraq.
That policy began to change this spring. Although it is not inviting a broad conversation, the administration has repeatedly said it will not rule out sideline talks with either Iran or Syria at the conference May 3-4 at Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheik.
Such contact would follow the model established last month when lower-level State Department officials had cordial discussions with Iranian and Syrian diplomats.
Bush said if a meeting occurs, Rice's message to the Iranians would be: "Don't send weapons in (to Iraq) that will end up hurting our troops, and help this young democracy survive."
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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