BAGHDAD, May 28 (UPI) -- Diplomats from the United States and Iran met in Baghdad Monday in the first formal talks between the two nations in 27 years.
While no agreements were reached during the talks on the war in Iraq, U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker said later the talks "proceeded positively," The New York Times reported.
Crocker met with Iranian Ambassador to Iraq Hassan Kazemi Qumi in the Baghdad offices of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
Crocker said at a news conference he "laid out before the Iranians a number of our direct, specific concerns about their behavior in Iraq."
U.S. officials have long accused Iran of supplying Iraqi insurgents with deadly weapons and training, an accusation the Iranian government has denied.
Crocker said he told the Iranian diplomats that Iran's actions in Iraq "need to cease," the Times reported.
Iran had no immediate comment on the talks. Crocker said the Iranian delegation's focus was on "mechanisms, if you will, and principles, rather than the detailed security substance that we need to see improvement on."
The United States broke diplomatic ties with Iran in 1980 in the middle of the hostage crisis at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran.
