Iranian president seeks more U.S. talks

Iran's hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Monday that Iran is ready to hold more talks with the United States over stabilizing Iraq, the state-run news agency reported.

"We are prepared to offer any help we can to help preserve unity ... and establish peace and security in Iraq," the official IRNA news agency quoted Ahmadinejad as saying.

The Iraqi government, which is backed by the U.S. but closely allied to Iran, has been trying to get the two sides together, hoping some cooperation will reduce violence in the country.

The U.S. and Iran held groundbreaking ambassador-level discussions on May 28 in Baghdad to address security in Iraq.

But since then, bitterness has mounted, partly due to Tehran's detention of four Iranian-American scholars and activists charged with endangering national security. The U.S. has demanded their release, saying the charges against them are false.

Ahmadinejad said Iran was ready for a second round of talks.

"We didn't say no to the first round of talks demanded by the Iraqi and U.S. governments. Now, the situation remains the same. Our position remains unchanged," IRNA quoted Ahmadinejad as saying.

Ahmadinejad made the comments two days after Iranian diplomats met for the first time with five detained Iranians in Iraq.

U.S. authorities have said the five included the operations chief and other members of Iran's elite Quds Force, which is accused of arming and training Iraqi militants.

Iran has consistently denied U.S. allegations and insists the five are diplomats in Iraq with permission of the government.