BAGHDAD, 11 March 2007 — US and Iranian envoys exchanged direct talks yesterday on efforts to end Iraq’s violence and bolster its government, opening limited but potentially significant contacts that could ease their nearly 28-year diplomatic freeze.

The discussions were confined to a closed-door session during a conference on Iraqi stability, but they appeared to offer room for further interaction between US and Iran — which find themselves increasingly drawn toward common issues in Iraq as the nation’s most influential allies.

The US ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, said he exchanged views with Iranian delegates “directly and in the presence of others” at the gathering led by Iraq’s neighbors and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council.

He declined to give details of the contacts — calling them only “constructive and businesslike and problem-solving” — but noted that he raised Washington’s assertions that Shiite militias receive weapons and assistance across the border from Iran.

The chief Iranian envoy, Abbas Araghchi, said he restated Tehran’s demands for a clear timetable for the withdrawal of US-led forces, which he insisted have made Iraq a magnet for extremists from across the Muslim world.

“Violence in Iraq is good for no country in the region,” said Araghchi, deputy foreign minister for legal and international affairs, at a post-meeting news conference.

Araghchi said he had no face-to-face talks with Khalilzad, but that all dialogue “was within the framework of the meeting” — which he said had “very good interaction by all the delegations.” Khalilzad, too, called it a “first step.” “The discussions were limited and focused on Iraq and I don’t want to speculate after that,” he said.

Iraq’s foreign minister, Hoshyar Zebari, told reporters there were “direct exchanges and meetings and discussions” between the US and Iranian delegation.

He also said the participants at the meeting agreed to take part in future groups to study ways to bolster Iraq’s security, assist displaced people and improve fuel distribution and sales in one of OPEC’s former heavyweights.

Zebari did not say whether Iran and the United States could join in these smaller “tactical committees.” But Araghchi, the Iranian envoy, insisted that the working groups should include only Iraq’s neighbors and could consult with “countries who are players in the region” — an apparent reference to the United States.

Iraq’s prime minister, Nuri Al-Maliki, opened the meeting with an appeal for international help to sever networks aiding extremists and warned that Iraq’s growing sectarian bloodshed could spill across the Middle East.

Khalilzad also urged nations bordering Iraq — which include Syria and Iran — to expand assistance to Al-Maliki’s government, saying “the future of Iraq and the Middle East is the defining issue of our time.” “(Iraq) needs support in this battle that not only threatens Iraq but will spill over to all countries in the region,” Al-Maliki said — shortly before mortar shells landed near the conference site and a car bomb exploded in a Shiite stronghold across the city, killing dozens of people.

Al-Maliki urged for help in stopping financial support, weapon pipelines and “religious cover” for the relentless attacks of car bombings, killings and other attacks that have pitted Iraq’s Sunnis against Shiites.

The delegates proposed an “expanded” follow-up meeting, which could include the G-8 nations and others, in Istanbul, Turkey, next month. Iraqi officials, however, say they will urge that the next meeting take place again in Baghdad.

The meeting also gives a forum to air a wide range of views and concerns including US accusations of weapons smuggling from Iran and Syria, and Arab demands for greater political power for Iraq’s Sunnis.

Security was extremely tight as envoys gathered in Iraq’s Foreign Ministry, which is outside the heavily protected Green Zone. Shortly after the meeting began, at least two mortar shells hit near the Foreign Ministry. There were no casualties.

Al-Maliki said “the terrorism that kills innocents” in Iraq comes from the same root as terrorist attacks around the world since Sept. 11, 2001, in a reference to groups inspired by Al-Qaeda.

He also delivered an apparent warning to Syria and Iran to stay away from using Iraq as a proxy battleground for fights against the United States. “Iraq does not accept that its territories and cities become a field where regional and international disputes are settled,” he said.