TEHRAN/BAGHDAD, 26 July 2007 — The United States yesterday played down the prospect of higher-level talks with Iran after Iran’s foreign minister was quoted as saying his government was open to moving negotiations to a more senior level. Asked whether Iran was ready to hold higher level talks with the United States, Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said: “It can be considered if Iran receives a formal request from America.”

In Washington, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack indicated that no such request was likely, despite an agreement in Baghdad on Tuesday to form a joint panel with Tehran to improve security in Iraq. “I don’t see that happening at this point in time,” he told reporters when asked about Mottaki’s reported remark. “We have an established channel with Ryan Crocker.”

Meanwhile, Iraq’s largest Sunni parliamentary bloc announced yesterday that it is expanding its boycott of Cabinet meetings to a full withdrawal from the government. A spokesman for the bloc said it would give Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki a week to meet its demands before taking further action.

“There were a host of demands submitted by the Accordance Front to the government, including suspending the raids and arrests,” spokesman Salim Abdullah told AFP. The Front demanded that the government do more to reign in the country’s powerful Shiite militias, many of which are allied to political parties.

“This suspension is for one week. We are waiting for a positive response from the other parties, to see if they will deal with our demands seriously,” Abdullah said. The Front’s Sunni ministers launched a boycott of Maliki’s coalition government after an arrest warrant was issued in June against Culture Minister Asaad Kamal Al-Hashemi.

In fighting yesterday, a joint US-Iraqi force backed with helicopter gunships clashed with suspected Shiite militiamen when they raided several homes in eastern Baghdad. Six people were killed and 10 wounded, police said. Associated Press Television News video footage showed the funerals of the six being held at Sadr City, a sprawling Baghdad district and a stronghold of the Mahdi Army.