Iran said on Thursday it was keen to play a major role in the reconstruction of Iraq, and lambasted the United States and its allies for "mistaken policies" in its neighbour. Iran's foreign minister, Manouchehr Mottaki, told an international conference on rebuilding Iraq that its "occupiers" had only made the situation worse.
"Due to the mistaken policies pursued by the occupiers in Iraq, the situation of security in Iraq is now so grave that it has cast its shadow" over other aspects of life, Mottaki said at the meeting, which is chaired by Iraq and the United Nations and hosted by Sweden.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who was in the audience, had a bemused expression on her face as he spoke and at one point raised her eyebrows. Iraq's foreign minister told Reuters that Rice and Mottaki had not met during the conference and US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters he was not aware of any contact between the two. Mottaki, speaking later with reporters, would only say he did not recall any meetings with Americans. Asked if he had shaken hands with Rice, he said Muslims did not shake hands with ladies.
In his speech to the conference, Mottaki said Iran had contributed $10 million to an Iraq reconstruction fund and signed a deal granting a $1 billion easy loan to Iraq to be repaid over 40 years.
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