US main source of insecurity in Iraq, Iran tells Bush

Tehran - The United States were the main source of insecurity in Iraq, Iran told state television on Saturday, responding to comments made earlier this week by US President George W Bush. 'Iran supports the government of Iraq and seeks stability and security in that country - cause for continued insecurity is solely the wrong US policies,' Foreign Ministry Spokesman Mohammad-Ali Hosseini said. Hosseini's statement followed Bush's comments on Thursday that Iran had no constructive role in Iraq and that he would talk to Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki who had claimed the opposite during his visit to Tehran. Spokesman Hosseini said that the three rounds of talks with the US - Tehran's political archenemy - in Baghdad were another clear sign of Iran's sincere wish for security in Iraq. Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, meanwhile, has charged the US with having fomented terrorism in the region and trying to cover this fact by accusing other countries of its failures. Iranian state television further reported that an agreement signed last year for the construction of an oil pipeline between the southern Iraqi city of Basra and Iran's nearby port of Abadan was finalized on Saturday. According to the agreement, the pipeline is due to transfer Iraqi crude oil from Basra to Abadan for refining. © 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur