Iran studies plan for talks

TEHRAN, Iran (AP)— Iran is studying a proposal from Iraqi officials to hold security talks with the United States in January, the Foreign Ministry said Sunday.

“Recently, we have received a proposal by Iraqi officials for an upcoming round of the talks to be held in January,” ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini told reporters. The “time and level of the talks is under study.”

Since May, Iran and the U.S. have held three rounds of ambassador-level of negotiations over security in Iraq. Earlier in November, Iran agreed to a request from the U.S. and Iraq to continue the talks.

Previous sessions ended inconclusively, with Iran rejecting U.S. allegations that it supports Shiite insurgent groups in Iraq by providing bomb-making materials responsible for the deaths of American troops. The new invitation came amid a decline in attacks . The first round of U.S.-Iran talks in Baghdad last May broke a 27-year diplomatic freeze. Both sides agreed during their July talks to set up a security subcommittee to carry forward talks on restoring stability in Iraq.