Tehran approached on U.S.-Iraqi pact

TEHRAN, Oct. 7 (UPI) -- The Iraqi speaker of Parliament arrived in Tehran Tuesday to hear the Iranian view of the security arrangement under negotiation between Baghdad and Washington.

Mahmoud Mashhadani was scheduled to arrive in the Iranian capital Monday, but his plane was denied landing because of apparent technical problems at an Iranian airport.

The speaker told Voices of Iraq that the long-term agreement set to replace the U.N. mandate for Iraq will have a major impact in national security issues for both Iran and Iraq.

"The program of the visit is based on an exchange of views on the Iraqi-U.S. security agreement," he said. "It is necessary to know their (the Iranians) opinion before making decisions."

The state-run Islamic Republic News Agency Tuesday reported the agreement was delivered to the Iraqi government for confirmation, though various media outlets said issues remained over the deal, notably provisions for legal protection of U.S. forces.

Mashhadani is in Iran in part to visit with the top Iranian leadership, including Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The speaker plans to visit with Syrian officials Wednesday.