Experts on international relations are not optimistic about such a dialogue system. America now insists that Iran must chart a positive course and cut its alleged support for militia in Iraq. The U.S. army has frequently accused Iran of arming and training Shiite militia in Iraq, including providing materials such as sophisticated armor-piercing explosives. Iran has outright denied the claims, maintaining a tough stance all the while by detaining U.S. "spies" even during the talks.

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said on June 1 that his country would continue talks with the United States if Washington changed its policy toward the war-ravaged country. Iran could play a role in ending the crisis, he observed, and might be the outlet that the United States needs out of its present impasse. "If there is a real willingness on the part of the U.S. administration to change its policy toward Iraq, we will continue them [the talks]," Mottaki said.

The Iranian nuclear issue is the keystone on which the problems can be settled, said Liu Yueqin, and mutual trust is needed to carry on the dialogue. However, she warned, neither country is willing to give in on this issue, and furthermore, it's questionable whether Iraq has accepted the idea that its future is in the hands of other countries, she added.

The U.S. State Department has said that Washington would seek new sanctions by the UN Security Council against Iran since Tehran, during the latest talks with officials of the European Union, is refusing to give up its nuclear program. The UN Security Council has adopted two resolutions that will impose financial and other sanctions on Iran over its refusal to suspend uranium enrichment, which can either be used to generate electricity or make nuclear weapons. The United States and its Western allies have accused Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons under the cover of its civilian nuclear programs.

On June 5, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that it was now too late to stop Tehran's nuclear program since Western powers were launching new efforts to impose UN sanctions against Iran. "It is too late to push us back," Ahmadinejad said. "Our nuclear activities are legal and within the framework of the International Atomic Energy Agency."

"Currently Iran is still safe," said Liu. "If America wants to launch military action against the country, it would have already done so. The Iraqi issue is actually holding the United States back. America will probably hold the war back till the last minute, and then seek dialogue."

She also pointed out that since Iran is not afraid of being sanctioned, the United States might end up conceding. "As Iran's stance gets tougher and tougher, the Bush administration is most likely to leave the problem to the next presidency," said Liu.

U.S.-Iranian Relations Iran and the United States held ambassador-level talks in Baghdad on May 28, 2007, their first meeting since the two countries severed diplomatic ties in 1980. Iran and the United States had shared close ties before 1979, when Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi was in power. Relations between the two sides began to deteriorate after the 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran, during which Iranian students seized the U.S. embassy in Tehran and took 90 hostages. The then U.S. President Jimmy Carter broke diplomatic ties on April 7, 1980, following the embassy hostage crisis. Iran responded by calling the United States its "arch enemy." During the Iran-Iraq war, the U.S. Navy destroyed several Iranian battleships and oil platforms, and in 1988 a U.S. warship shot down an Iranian passenger plane, killing all 290 people on board. When the eight-year-long war drew to an end in August 1988, Washington said on several occasions that it wished to restore high-level contacts with Tehran, an offer that was refused. The United States continued its policy of political isolation and economic sanctions against Iran during Bill Clinton's presidency, and the policy became even tougher when George W. Bush was elected to the White House in 2002. Bush accused Iran of being a member of the "axis of evil," saying Iran was a staunch supporter of terrorism. In 2003, the United States criticized Iran over its nuclear enrichment program and threatened the use of force if efforts failed in bringing a peaceful solution to the nuclear crisis. In 2005, Iranian President Ahmadinejad said his country would not give up its nuclear program. His remarks triggered great tension in Washington, which later pushed the UN Security Council into passing resolutions for economic sanctions against Iran. Since the outbreak of the Iraq war in 2003, the United States has been accusing Iran of supporting militant groups in Iraq, an accusation Tehran has resolutely denied. However, as the security situation worsens in Iraq and U.S. casualties increase, the Bush administration has realized that to solve the crisis in Iraq, neighboring countries, including Iran, must get involved. Starting at the beginning of this year, Washington has stepped up efforts to make contact with Tehran. The Iranian side, while expressing a willingness to cooperate, also stands by its right to peacefully use nuclear power. (Source: Xinhua News Agency)