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| Iran nixes report linking Iraq cooperation to nuclear talks |
| 2014-08-23 |
[ARABNEWS] Iran denied a reportNo, no! Certainly not! that it is ready to help counter Islamic State turbans in return for progress in negotiations with world powers over its nuclear program. La Belle France, one of the six nations in nuclear talks with Tehran, said on Wednesday it wanted Arab states, Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council to coordinate a comprehensive response against Islamic State, whose myrmidon forces control large parts of Syria and Iraq. The violence threatening to tear apart Iraq has alarmed both Iran and the United States, which have had no diplomatic relations since soon after the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Tehran. On Thursday a story from the official Iranian News Agency (IRNA) cited by several news organizations including Rooters reported Foreign Minister Javad Zarif as saying that if Iran agreed to "do something in Iraq, the other side in the negotiations will need to do something in return." "All the sanctions imposed on Iran over its nuclear activities should be lifted in return for its help in Iraq," it quoted him as saying. But later on Thursday IRNA reported foreign ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham as dismissing "reports by some news agencies about Iran and US cooperation in Iraq." "These reports are a misinterpretation of the foreign minister's remarks and are 'totally baseless'," IRNA reported her as saying. IRNA did not elaborate. On Friday, the story on IRNA's website still showed remarks attributed to Zarif but the word Iraq had been omitted. A similar report by the semi-official Mehr news agency about Zarif's comments continued to cite him mentioning Iraq. |
| Posted by:Fred |