Iran Calls on US to Withdraw from Iraq

TEHRAN (Fars News Agency)- Just days after the Iraq Study Group recommended opening a dialogue with Tehran, Iranian foreign minister said his country would enter discussions on stabilizing Iraq only if the United States commits to a troop withdrawal.

Speaking to a security conference in Manama, Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said Iran is open to dialogue as long as the United States “changes its attitude.”

He further stressed, “The time of threats is over; the period of unilateralism is over.”

The event, which drew diplomatic and security officials from throughout the Persian Gulf and the West, was organized by the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

The bipartisan Iraq Study Group recommended in a report released Wednesday that the United States establish an Iraq International Support Group, which would involve Iraq’s neighbors, including Iran. The Bush administration has been very skeptical of the idea of opening a full-scale dialogue with Tehran.