DAMASCUS, Syria, Feb. 13 (UPI) -- Iran's first deputy president said Wednesday his country opposed U.S. attempts to aid the overthrow of Iraq's ruling regime and that it was engaged in talks with Baghdad to resolve past differences.
Mohammed Rida Aref, who addressed reporters following a lengthy meeting with Syrian Vice President Abdel Halim Khaddam, rejected "any U.S. intervention in Iraq" and said, "the future of this country is to be defined by its sons."
Iraq and Iran fought a protracted war in the '80s that claimed the lives of between half a million and million people. Aref's declaration appears to be a move toward easing tensions between the two neighbors.
Aref said Iran was conducting "negotiations" with Iraq within the framework of "Iran's foreign policy, which always aims at overcoming old disputes" with the hope of achieving "a better future full of peace and stability."
Regarding President Bush's recent claim that Iraq, Iran and North Korea formed an "axis of evil" intent on obtaining weapons of mass destruction, Aref said the allegations were not new, but have a "harsher aspect this time" under the Bush administration.
Aref was scheduled to meet with Syrian President Bashar Assad on Thursday to deliver a letter from Iranian President Mohammed Khatami.
