* Baghdad says Iran seeks new talks venue
* Iraq already hosted Arab League summit
* Western envoys called to foreign ministry
(Adds byline, diplomat remark)
By Patrick Markey
BAGHDAD, April 4 (Reuters) – Iran has approached Baghdad to
host forthcoming talks with six world powers over its disputed
nuclear programme, Iraq said on Wednesday, apparently departing
from plans for an Istanbul meeting following iranian frictions
with Turkey.
Iranian media quoted Iranian foreign minister Ali Akbar
Salehi as saying the talks could take place in Baghdad or China.
He gave no further details.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced the April
13-14 negotiations would take place in Istanbul, the first such
meeting since January 2011 when the sides did not even manage to
agree on an agenda.
Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari told Reuters an
Iranian delegation proposed Baghdad for the talks during a visit
to Iraq on Tuesday.
“The proposal came from them. We received a delegation from
Iran … Today we are inviting G5 plus one ambassadors to hand
over a letter about the proposal,” Zebari said.
A Western diplomat in Baghdad confirmed envoys had been
called to Iraq’s foreign ministry for a meeting on Wednesday.
There was no immediate reaction from the six powers – the
United States, Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany – to
the proposal to hold talks in Iraq.
Iraq’s Shi’ite-led government is closely aligned with Iran
in a region where Sunni Arab Gulf powers are jockeying for
influence with Shi’ite power Tehran.
A senior Iranian figure recently spoke out against Turkey
hosting the talks as once warm Iranian-Turkish relations have
cooled in the past year over Turkey’s hostility to Syrian
President Bashar al-Assad, Iran’s close Arab ally.
Turkey has demanded Assad halt a year-long crackdown on
opponents in Syria and step down. Last month, Turkey also
announced it would reduce the amount of oil it buys from Iran by
10 percent, ceding to U.S. pressure over Iran sanctions.
The United States and its allies suspect Tehran is covertly
working on nuclear weapons and have imposed tough sanctions on
Iran, including measures against its financial and energy
sectors. Tehran says its nuclear activities are peaceful.
Tehran last month agreed to renewed talks with the five
permanent members of the Security Council, as well as Germany,
but said negotiations over the venue were ongoing.
Pulling back from years of war, Iraq last month hosted the
Arab League summit for the first time in two decades, as part of
Baghdad’s push to return to the diplomatic stage in a region
split along sectarian lines over the Syrian uprising and Western
sanctions on Iran.
(Reporting by Patrick Markey; Editing by Jon Boyle)
