WASHINGTON (AFP) - Washington and Tehran open their first substantial talks in 27 years in Baghdad on Monday, with both countries setting modest goals and limiting discussions to ways to quell the chaos in Iraq.
US ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker is set to meet Iranian ambassador Hassan Kazemi in the highest-level official bilateral talks between the two sides since the 1979 Islamic revolution.
The United States and Iran broke off diplomatic relations in 1980 after radical students stormed the US embassy in Tehran and held its diplomats hostage for 444 days.