Baghdad, Iraq – The American ambassador scolded his Iranian counterpart in a groundbreaking meeting Tuesday for Tehran’s alleged arming and training of Shiite militias. But he agreed to set up a panel to work on stabilizing Iraq.
South of Baghdad, a suicide tow truck driver killed at least 24 people with a huge bomb in the Shiite city of Hillah. Police and morgue officials said 58 people, including those in Hillah, were killed or found dead nationwide.
Speaking to reporters after a second session in two months with the Iranian envoy, U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker called the seven-hour meeting “full and frank,” diplomatic language for difficult.
The Bush administration does not appear to expect much if anything from the talks but seems willing to go forward with them because the bipartisan Iraq Study Group recommended last year contacts with Iran and Syria in a bid to end or ameliorate outside influences in Iraq.
“We discussed ways forward, and one of the issues we discussed was the formation of a security subcommittee that would address at an expert or technical level some issues relating to security, be that support for violent militias, al-Qaeda or border security,” Crocker said.
But he warned progress was impossible until Iran matches its behavior on the ground with its declarations backing an independent and stable Iraq.
“The fact is, as we made very clear in today’s talks, that over the roughly two months since our last meeting we’ve actually seen militia-related activity that could be attributed to Iranian support go up and not down,” Crocker said.
“We made it clear to the Iranians that we know what they’re doing (and) it’s up to them to decide what they want to do about it,” he said.
In another news conference, Iranian Ambassador Hassan Kazemi Qomi countered that Tehran was helping Iraq deal with the security situation but that Iraqis were “victimized by terror and the presence of foreign forces.”
He said his delegation also demanded the release of five Iranians detained by U.S. forces in Iraq. The United States claims the five were linked to Iran’s elite Quds Force, which Washington accuses of arming and training Iraqi militants. Iran says the five are diplomats who were legally in Iraq.
Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, who chaired the meeting, said experts would meet as early as today to work out the security committee’s structure.
The Hillah bomber struck at 9 a.m., according to provincial police, who said the driver of the tow truck detonated his payload in the middle of the Bab al-Mashhad district. Iraqi troops cordoned off the area while fire engines and ambulances rushed in.
