*US and Iran trade blame over Iraq chaos
*

The United States and Iran traded accusations over the bloodshed in Iraq
on Monday during the first high-level direct official talks between the
arch-foes in 27 years.

US ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker accused Iran of fomenting unrest in
the country by funnelling weapons and training to extremist militias,
and called on Tehran to live up to its promises to support stability.

His Iranian counterpart Hassan Kazemi Qomi, however, accused the US
military of not doing enough to arm Iraqi government forces and said the
Islamic republic was prepared to step in and do this itself.

The first such encounter since the two countries severed diplomatic ties
in 1980 lasted four hours, and afterwards Iran's envoy sounded keener on
holding further talks than his US counterpart.

Crocker said he had insisted that Iran must back up its stated support
for Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's beleaguered government by halting
its backing for armed factions fighting in Iraq.

"The purpose of our efforts in this meeting was not to build a legal
case -- presumably the Iranians know what they were doing -- our point
was simply to say what we know as well; this is dangerous for Iraq," he
said.

"What we underscored to the Iranians was that beyond principle there is
practice," he said. "The Iranian actions on the ground have to come into
harmony with their principles."

The Iranians proposed creating a trilateral security commission
involving Iraqis and US representatives -- a suggestion Crocker dismissed.

"What we are doing today effectively was a security committee because on
the level of policy there isn't a great deal to argue about," he said.

Crocker said the Iranians did not address specific US complaints, but
instead criticised the American occupation as a whole and complained
that US efforts to train Iraqi security forces were inadequate.

Kazemi Qomi described the meeting as positive but blamed the violence in
Iraq on the US military presence. He also offered to arm the Iraqi
government.

"The Iraqi government is in need of strong military and security
structure to confront its security problems and we have offered all
forms of assistance such as weapons, training and equipment," he told
reporters.

"The negotiations today were an important first step between the two
sides," he said. "The Iraqi government said it will invite the two sides
to resume negotiations and we received this proposal positively."

Kazemi Qomi added, however, that he would have to consult with Tehran,
and one of his assistants said that no date had been set for a follow-up
meeting.

"If it is possible, it will happen," the assistant said.

There had been little expectation that the envoys would see eye-to-eye
over the Iraq crisis, with the foreign ministry in Tehran on the eve of
the talks accusing US agents of sponsoring subversion in its border
provinces.

Washington has dismissed similar accusations in the past, but mutual
distrust continues to chill Iranian-American relations a quarter of a
century after US embassy diplomats in Tehran were held hostage for 444 days.

The United States accuses Iran's Revolutionary Guards of supplying armed
groups in Iraq with armour-piercing roadside bombs that have been blamed
for the deaths of hundreds of the 3,455 American troops killed in the
conflict.

US forces are holding seven alleged Revolutionary Guards agents detained
in Iraq on suspicion of subversion, men Iran adamantly insists are
diplomats. Crocker said the subject of the detainees was not raised.

Both countries are also at loggerheads over Iran's nuclear drive, but
the issue was ruled off the agenda ahead of Monday's talks.

Maliki, who hosted the talks, emphasised that Iraq did not want to be an
arena for foreign powers to settle their differences through violence.

"Iraq will not be a springboard for threats against any of the
neighbouring countries," he vowed. "In return we look for a similar
stance from the other states, especially our neighbours."