Better U.S.-Iran ties would help Iraq: Iraqi spokesman

Source: WP/Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Better relations between Washington and Tehran would help Iraq and lessen the tendency of Iran to meddle in the affairs of its neighbor, the Iraqi government spokesman said on Friday.

Ali al-Dabbagh was speaking at a White House news briefing where he supported President George W. Bush's effort to resist a timetable for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq and said a premature U.S. pullout would leave a power vacuum.

The Bush administration has repeatedly accused Iran of fueling Sunni-Shi'ite violence in Iraq by providing arms and other support to Shi'ite militias. Iraq's government includes both Sunnis and Shi'ites but is led by Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.

"There is an interference from the Iranians in Iraqi affairs, we don't deny that," Dabbagh said. "We feel that the improvement and the better relations between the United States and Iran could minimize -- could make the interference less."

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/13/AR2007041301473.html