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Iran And Iraq To Hold Talks On Border Dispute


Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said today that negotiations over the disputed Iran-Iraq border will be held "within a week."

Mottaki is in Baghdad for talks with his Iraqi counterpart, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari.

Speaking at a joint news conference with Mottaki in the Iraqi capital today, Zebari outlined plans to settle the conflict.

"We had a problem [over borders]. And still the problem is pending, and we want to resolve it. We have agreed during talks with my brother, Manuchehr Mottaki, on the following: First: To normalize conditions on the two countries' borders and get the situation back to normal. Second: To activate the work of the technical border committees," Zebari said.

The border dispute dates back to the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s. Zebari called it part of a "heavy legacy of issues" carried over from former leader Saddam Hussein.

Iranian troops have been stationed near Iraq's al-Fakkah oil field along the two countries' disputed border since mid-December.

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