U.S. contacts Iran for Iraqi security plan

TEHRAN, April 7 (UPI) -- A spokesman for the Iranian foreign minister said Monday Tehran received a request from the United States to discuss restoring peace in Iraq.

The spokesman, Mohammad Ali Hosseini, said Tehran received the request Monday through the Swiss Embassy in Tehran, which deals with U.S. diplomatic channels to Iran.

"We have received a new request by American officials in a formal note for the holding of negotiations on the Iraqi developments and we are looking into the case," Hosseini said.

Mohsen al-Hakim, son of the head of the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council's Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, told an Iranian news service U.S. officials issued a request to hold a new round of talks following the cancellation of an earlier meeting, al-Alam television network reported.

Hosseini said Iranian interest in Iraq remains strong following the invasion of Iraq by U.S.-led forces in 2003.

"The priority for the Islamic Republic of Iran is for security and stability in Iraq and it will do everything to reach these objectives," he added.

An Iraqi delegation traveled to Iran in March to meet with Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr to broker a cease-fire between Shiite militias and Iraqi national security forces in Basra.