The United States tuned down Thursday the significance of a meeting held in New York between members of the Iranian parliament with American counterparts.
According to a press briefing by the US department of state Thursday, Spokesman Richard Boucher told reporters that the informal meeting that took place Wednesday was arranged by the Congress, and the administration had only taken note of. He dismissed the suggestion that the meeting was a kick-off of Iran-US dialogue.
“I'm not drawing big conclusions at this point. There have been contacts, people-to-people contacts and exchanges. This is another kind of exchange. But I think as far as really a policy-related conclusion,… we're still looking for the official dialogue,” he said
The spokesman added that although the two counties have no official relation, the US “wants to talk about issues of concern to both sides.”
Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mehdi Karubi told reporters Thursday he had an unscheduled meeting at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on Wednesday evening with Senator Arlen Specter and two members of the House of Representatives, Gary Ackerman and Bob Neigh, according to AFP.
Karubi is in New York for a three-day conference at UN headquarters of presiding officers of 141 national parliaments, organized by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU). The conference began on Wednesday.
"We were invited to visit the Metropolitan Museum and in the course of our visit we were approached by some members of the Congress," Karubi said he had discussed the fate of the 10 Jews convicted in Iran of spying for Israel, said the agency.
The meeting is believed to be the first for 20 years between Iranian and US lawmakers – Albawaba.com
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