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On 28 May, the US ambassador in Iraq, Ryan Crocker, held talks with his Iranian counterpart, Hassan Kazemi-Qomi, the result of which was an agreement between the two sides that security and stability within Iraq are in the best interests of all concerned. The meeting did not, however, result in any other concrete conclusions. It is therefore widely expected that the US will demand Iran stops supporting sectarian militias that are exacerbating sectarian tensions in Iraq. State sponsored terrorism In early July, the US government accused Iran of orchestrating an attack which resulted in the death of five US soldiers, and of using Lebanese militants to train insurgents in Iraq. These claims have been vehemently denied by Iran, which insists it has had no involvement in anti-American and anti-British attacks. Yet the US army has said information was leaked by a Hezbollah fighter who was captured in southern Iraq, which suggests otherwise. The suspect admitted to working with the Quds Force, an organisation linked to Iran's Revolutionary Guards. Tehran, however, has claimed to support the US-led Iraqi government, and attributes the persistent violence within the country to the countless conflicts since the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime in 2003. Bloodshed in Iraq continues despite the deployment of 30,000 extra US troops on 15 June 2007. Despite widespread disagreement and distrust between the US and Iran, Iranian Foreign Minister, Manouchehr Mottaki has declared that the country will respond positively to any talks requested by the US. Nuclear compliance This may be due to Iran's recent compliance with the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) request to allow access to nuclear plants within the country, which will result in the US experiencing difficulty in securing harsher sanctions on Iran. Iraq analyst Phyllis Bennis believe that both the US and Iran currently have hidden agendas for any upcoming talks. Speaking to Radio Netherlands Worldwide, she explained:

"The fact that Iran has given the IAEA what they have asked for means it will be very difficult for the US and its allies to come back to the council and say, 'we still want an even harsher sanctions regime'."

What this implies is that Tehran is now concerned with the reality of UN Security Council sanctions and sees compliance with the IAEA and negotiations with the US as a way of muting the anti-Iranian hysteria, which is currently resonant in the rest of the world. Change in public perception There has indeed already been a slight shift in public perception of Iran since its compliance with the IAEA, and after the Los Angeles Times reported private acknowledgements from the US government that the vast majority of foreign insurgents in Iraq are not from Iran, but from Saudi Arabia. Ms Bennis comments:

"All of the US accusations against Iran are gradually dwindling, and I think that the US call for new talks is probably part of a strategy to try to shift that changing public perception of Iran back to the earlier stage of a much more antagonistic view of Iran."

Limited agenda So, with the US aiming to re-demonise Iran, and Iran wishing to keep its nuclear programme at the top of the agenda, it is hard to see where Iraq will fit into the discussions. According to Ms Bennis, it is unlikely that Iraq will be a priority on either state's agenda.

"Unfortunately I'm not sure that it is very likely that there will be any real impact on the war in Iraq, partly because I don't think that the war in Iraq is about Iran. It is quite clear that Iran is not calling the shots in a qualitative way in the war in Iraq and the US occupation of that country remains the fundamental destabilising factor of the war. In that context what Iran is even capable of is quite limited. What they are willing to do is probably more limited still."

Although Iraq may not be high on the agenda of either the US or Iran, talks between the two sides may be prove to be a step forward in promoting diplomacy amongst regional powers in the Gulf - a strategy proposed by the Iraq Study Group in December 2006. However, diplomacy has not yet won the day. Discussions between the US and Iran are still widely regarded as controversial in both countries, due to wide-spread anti-American sentiments within Iran, and US beliefs that its adversary is a state sponsor of terrorism. Radio Netherlands Worldwide