Apr 29, 2007 3:53 pm US/Eastern
Iran To Attend Iraq Security Confererence
BAGHDAD (CBS) ―
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad confirmed Sunday that his government will attend a major international conference on Iraq set for this week in Egypt, the Iraqi prime minister's office said.
A statement from Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's office said Ahmadinejad telephoned the Iraqi leader and told him Tehran would participate in the meeting Thursday and Friday in the resort of Sharm El-Sheik.
The call was made as top Iranian envoy Ali Larijani flew to Baghdad for talks with Iraqi leaders.
In Tehran, Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini said Larijani would discuss the conference with Iraqi government officials as Iran has "some questions and ambiguities about the agenda."
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will attend the conference along with delegates from Iraq's neighbors and officials from the United Nations.
The top U.S. commander in Iraq has accused Iran's elite Quds force of aiding a secret extremist network in Iraq.
(© 2007 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
