BAGHDAD (AP) - U.S. and Iranian envoys exchanged direct talks Saturday on efforts to end Iraq's violence and bolster its government, opening limited but potentially significant contacts that could ease their nearly 28-year diplomatic freeze. The discussions were confined to one session during a conference on Iraq stability, but they appeared to offer room for further interaction between the two nations—which find themselves increasingly drawn toward common issues in Iraq as the nation's most influential allies.
The U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, said he exchanged views with Iranian delegates "directly and in the presence of others" at the gathering led by Iraq's neighbors and the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council.
He declined to give details of the contacts—calling them only "constructive and businesslike and problem-solving"—but noted that he raised U.S. assertions that Shiite militias receive weapons and assistance across the border from Iran.
The chief Iranian envoy, Abbas Araghchi, said he restated his country's demands for a clear timetable for the withdrawal of U.S.-led forces, which he insisted have made Iraq a magnet for extremists from across the Muslim world.
"Violence in Iraq is good for no country in the region," said Araghchi, deputy foreign minister for legal and international affairs, at a post-meeting news conference.
Araghchi said he did not meet privately with Khalilzad, but that all dialogue "was within the framework of the meeting"—which he said had "very good interaction by all the delegations."
Khalilzad, too, called it a "first step."
"The discussions were limited and focused on Iraq and I don't want to speculate after that," he said.
For Iran, opening more direct contacts with Washington could help promote their shared interests in Iraq, including trying to stamp out Sunni-led insurgents. U.S. officials, meanwhile, need the support of Iranian-allied political groups in Iraq to help contain Shiite militias.
The United States broke off ties with Iran after militants occupied the American Embassy in Tehran in the wake of the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Iraq's foreign minister, Hoshyar Zebari, told reporters there were "direct exchanges and meetings and discussions" between the U.S. and Iranian delegation.
He also said the participants at the meeting agreed to take part in future groups to study ways to bolster Iraq's security, assist displaced people and improve fuel distribution and sales in one of OPEC's former heavyweights.
Zebari did not say whether Iran and the United States could join in these smaller "tactical committees."
But Araghchi, the Iranian envoy, insisted that the working groups should include only Iraq's neighbors and could consult with "countries who are players in the region"—an apparent reference to the United States.
Iraq's prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, opened the meeting with an appeal for international help to sever networks aiding extremists and warned that Iraq's growing sectarian bloodshed could spill across the Middle East.
Khalilzad also urged nations bordering Iraq—which include Syria and Iran—to expand assistance to al-Maliki's government, saying "the future of Iraq and the Middle East is the defining issue of our time."
"(Iraq) needs support in this battle that not only threatens Iraq but will spill over to all countries in the region," al-Maliki said—shortly before mortar shells landed near the conference site and a car bomb exploded in a Shiite stronghold across the city.
Al-Maliki urged for help in stopping financial support, weapon pipelines and "religious cover" for the relentless attacks of car bombings, killings and other attacks that have pitted Iraq's Sunnis against majority Shiites.
The delegates proposed an "expanded" follow-up meeting, which could include the G-8 nations and others, in Istanbul, Turkey, next month. Iraqi officials, however, say they want the next meeting to take place in Baghdad.
The meeting also gives a forum to air a wide range of views and concerns including U.S. accusations of weapons smuggling from Iran and Syria, and Arab demands for greater political power for Iraq's Sunnis.
Al-Maliki said "the terrorism that kills innocents" in Iraq comes from the same root as terrorists attacks around the world since Sept. 11, in a reference to groups inspired by al-Qaida.
He also delivered an apparent warning to Syria and Iran to stay away from using Iraq as a proxy battleground for fights against the United States.
"Iraq does not accept that its territories and cities become a field where regional and international disputes are settled," he said.
Khalilzad did not specifically mention Iran in statements to delegates, but he offered indirect messages that the United States acknowledges the country's growing influence in the region.
"The U.S. seeks an Iraq that is at peace with its neighbors; and neighbors that are at peace with Iraq," he said, according to a text distributed by the U.S. Embassy.
But he also reasserted U.S. claims that Syria allows foreign jihadists and Sunni insurgents to cross its border into Iraq, and that weapon shipments from Iran reach Shiite militias. Both nations deny the allegations.
Iran has strongly denounced the U.S. military presence even though it toppled their old foe Saddam Hussein. The complaints grew more pointed in December after American forces detained two Iranian security agents at the compound of a major Shiite political bloc in Baghdad
Six other Iranians were arrested Jan. 11 at an Iranian liaison office in northern Iraq. The U.S. military said they were members of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard—a charge Tehran rejects.
Khalilzad appeared to address Iran's complaints by saying U.S.-led troops do not "have anyone in detention who is a diplomat."
The Iranian envoy Araghchi complained the officials were "kidnapped" by U.S. forces and were members of the diplomatic staff.
The showdown over Iran's nuclear program also lurks behind any attempt to open a diplomatic dialogue. There have been other chances in the past for one-on-one dialogue between the United States and Iran, but rarely with such promise.
In September, the United States joined Iran and Syria in talks on Iraq—although Washington ruled out direct talks with Iran in advance.
"All the delegates are united by one thing: the fear of a prolonged civil war in Iraq. It would hurt them each in different ways," said Abdel-Moneim Said, director of Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies in Cairo. "Fear is the one thing bringing them all together."
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Associated Press reporter Nasser Karimi in Tehran contributed to this report.
