TEHRAN, May 13 (UPI) -- Iran has consented to talks with the United States about conditions in Iraq, an official in Tehran announced Sunday.
Tehran agreed to the talks in order to "relieve the pain and suffering of the Iraqi people," said Mohammad Ali Hosseini, Iran's foreign ministry spokesman.
The date and level of the discussions are to be announced by the end of the week, reported IRNA, the Islamic Republic News Agency, Iran's official news agency. U.S. officials have yet to comment on Iran's announcement.
Top representatives from Iran and the United States attended a conference on Iraq's security in Egypt earlier this month. At the conference, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki blamed the United States for continuing sectarian violence in Iraq.
The United States and Iran have not had diplomatic relations since Washington severed ties with Tehran in 1979.
