The Iranian Foreign Ministry said Sunday that Iraqi officials had asked Iran to hold talks with the United States and that it would consider doing so if the United States made an official request.
Such talks were agreed to in March, but tensions between the countries over Iran’s nuclear program began escalating and final arrangements were never made.
Many of Iraq’s Shiite leaders lived in Iran when Saddam Hussein was in power in Iraq, and some American military commanders have accused Iran of training and equipping violent Shiite groups in Iraq.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/06/world/middleeast/06iran.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&adxnnlx=1162793303-/GoOqLm+CL59PonG89o+Ew