The United States and Iran held confidential talks about the future of Iraq prior to the U.S.-led war in Iraq, according to a new book by a top Bush administration diplomat.
Among the topics at the talks, Iran agreed not to fire at U.S. aircraft flying over Iran, and the United States wanted Iran to encourage Shiites to participate in forming a new government in Iraq, according to a report in The New York Times about the book.
“We wanted a commitment that Iran would not fire on U.S. aircraft if they accidentally flew over Iranian territory,” Zalmay Khalilzad, a former ambassador to Iraq, Afghanistan and the United Nations, wrote, according to the Times.
Then-Iranian Ambassador to the United Nations Mohammad Javad Zarif agreed, he wrote.
“We also hoped Iran would encourage Iraqi Shiites to participate constructively in establishing a new government in Iraq,” he added.
Khalilzad’s book, “The Envoy,” is set to be published this month.



Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu should be quaking in his boots at the decisive victory of...
Vladimir Putin has said that the outline of a draft peace plan discussed by the US...
The suspected shooter of two national guard members in Washington DC on Wednesday worked with CIA-backed...
Israeli forces launched an extensive military assault on the northern occupied West Bank city of Tubas...





























