Tehran - The only solution to end the dilemma in Iraq was to withdraw the United States forces from Iraq and leave all state affairs to the Iraqi government, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Thursday. Ahmadinejad told visiting Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari that "end of occupation" was the only way to return security and stability to Iraq.
"Continuation of killing of innocent people indicates the weakness of the occupiers in establishing security in Iraq; the occupiers are currently in their weakest phase following the invasion of Iraq," Ahmadinejad was quoted by ISNA news agency as saying.
The president reiterated that Iran was affected more than the other neighbouring states by the insecurity in Iraq and would therefore support and stand by the government in Baghdad.
Zebari once again asked Iran to attend the international conference on Iraq scheduled for May 1- 4 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.
Despite lengthy talks Wednesday in Tehran between Zebari and his Iranian counterpart Manouchehr Mottaki, Iran has not yet decided whether to attend the conference and just said the decision would soon be announced.
Tehran says that Iran's problem was "venue and contents" as it had initially been planned that the neighbouring countries of Iraq plus Egypt and Bahrain would meet first to consult about the formation and agenda of the conference before finalizing the date and venue.
Another issue is the detainment of Iranian diplomats by US forces. Tehran has several times rejected press speculations that their release would be Tehran's main condition for attending the conference.
Iran's attendance would also enable the first-ever direct contact between Mottaki and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice although Mottaki termed such a scenario as premature.
Tehran considers any interference by other countries as not only unconstructive but also a source for the escalation of violence.
