U.S., Iran to discuss Iraq

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran and the United States agreed Thursday to hold direct talks on how to halt sectarian violence and restore calm in Iraq, offering the first face-to-face conversation between the sides after months of confrontation over Iran's nuclear program.

Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, announced in Iran's parliament on Thursday that he would send a team of negotiators to Iraq to meet with American representatives there. But he also suggested in an interview that there would be stiff preconditions.

"I think Iraq is a good testing ground for America to take a harder look at the way it acts," Larijani said in his office shortly after making the announcement. "If there's a determination in America to take that hard look, then we're prepared to help."

In Washington, the White House spokesman, Scott McClellan, said that American officials would have a "very narrow mandate" in talking to the Iranians and that direct talks on the nuclear issue would occur only with the major European powers and Russia and China.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in Sydney, Australia, that talks with Iranian envoys in Baghdad could be "useful" but would be limited to discussions on Iraqi security. "This isn't a negotiation of some kind," she said. President Bush's national security adviser, Stephen J. Hadley, said he regarded Iran's initiative as a sign that Tehran's leaders "are finally beginning to listen" to the nations that have referred Iran's nuclear activity to the U.N. Security Council.

But he suggested that there had been plenty of dialogue — most of it conducted in public — and that the problem was not one of discussion but of action by Iran to give up all production of nuclear fuel.

As both sides maneuver for leverage on the nuclear issue, Iran has continued to indicate that it could be a help — or hindrance — in Iraq, where a majority of the population are Shiite Muslims, as in Iran.

It is not clear exactly what steps Iran could take to help stabilize Iraq. But it has long supported Iraqi Shiite political parties and maintained personal ties with their leaders.

The United States has been putting pressure on Shiite leaders to make concessions to Sunni parties and to rein in militias implicated in death squads and sectarian reprisals.