"They said hello. It was not about substance," said U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack.
 

A U.S. official who asked not to be named has said any encounters between Rice and Mottaki would not tackle substance, in accordance with the wishes of the Iranian side.

Iran and the United States have not had relations since soon after the Islamic revolution in Iran in 1979, and tensions have risen in the past year over Iran's influence in Iraq and over Tehran's nuclear program.

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President to meet with House, Senate leaders to discuss funding bill
 

Washington – President Bush says he looks forward to an upcoming meeting with congressional Democrats to find a way to pass a crucial $100 billion defense spending package for ongoing operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Bush said he considers it “healthy” and “normal” that Congress would disagree with the president over the best course of action in Iraq. However, “Congress needs to pass an emergency war spending bill, without strings and without further delay,” Bush told White House reporters April 16. His press appearance followed a meeting with military families, who are in Washington to ask their elected representatives in Congress to support the president's funding request.

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General Pace urges careful assessment of degree of Iranian involvement

 

Washington -– Defense Secretary Robert Gates says every effort is being made to disrupt the supply network of weapons -– including lethal hand-tooled explosives -- being used to kill coalition soldiers in Iraq.

“Our goal is to ... bring about an end to the use of these improvised explosive devices and ... explosively formed projectiles that are killing our troops,” the secretary told reporters at the Pentagon February 15.

Gates said it is not clear whether senior Iranian political leaders are involved and have approved activities carried out against U.S., Iraqi and coalition forces by the paramilitary al-Quds Force or if the group is acting independently.

Marine General Peter Pace, speaking alongside Gates, pointed out that twice Iranians were picked up in Iraq as part of explosive network disruption efforts.  They were part of the al-Quds Force, he said, which is subordinate to the Iranian Republican Guard Corps.  (See related article.)

At the same time, both Gates and Pace were careful to say they do not know if senior Iranian government leaders are directing the supply of weapons and components into Iraq or are orchestrating deadly attacks.

Speaking in his capacity as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Pace emphasized the importance of sifting through established facts and then drawing the correct assessment based on them.  “We know that there are explosives and weapons being used inside Iraq that were manufactured in Iran,” he said, but there is no proof that “the senior leadership in Iran is directing these activities.”  Gates said it would be hypothetical to draw any other conclusion.

He reiterated sentiments that both he and President Bush have stated previously. “We are not looking for an excuse to go to war with Iran.  We are not planning a war,” he said.

Gates also said he would like to see Iran freeze its missile technology development program.  If he could be reassured that “Iran will not be able to buy ballistic missile technology from others that would give them greater capabilities,” the secretary said, he might rest easier at night.

Gates also was asked about comments reportedly made by the Russian army chief of staff indicating that Moscow might consider abrogating the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, which stipulates the elimination of all ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles in the 500- to 5,000-kilometer range.

While indicating that Russia’s withdrawal from the bilateral INF Treaty would pose a problem for the United States and various European countries, he also suggested the unofficial Russian comments might well be prompted by concerns about possible ballistic missile threats emanating from Russia’s southern and eastern borders.

The secretary said the suggestion of a possible Russian withdrawal from the INF Treaty cannot be attributed to U.S. plans to put elements of a missile defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic within the next six years.  “They know perfectly well that the ballistic missile defense that we’re contemplating and proceeding to negotiate in Europe is no threat ... to Russia,” Gates said, describing such a connection as “a false issue.” 

Source: US Department of state

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"I was taken aback by the harshness of the words," Bush said at a joint White House news conference with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf.

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The United States held the highest-level contact with Syria in more than two years on Thursday during a big international conference on Iraq and exchanged pleasantries with Iran's foreign minister.

The contacts took place in Egypt on the sidelines of the conference, dedicated to an International Compact to support Iraqi institutions in exchange for political reforms.

The meeting in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh has so far won a trickle of debt relief for Iraq, but was largely overshadowed by rare U.S.-Syrian and U.S.-Iranian contacts.

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