Presidential superdelegates have advised the Democratic Party to regard direct negotiations with Iran as a vital foreign policy issue.

Superdelegates reached out to Democratic Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama on Thursday, urging them to focus on ending the Iraq war, engaging in direct dialogue with the Iranian government and shutting down the Guantanamo Bay detention camp.

They said only a Democratic president -- either Obama or Clinton-- can correct the course that the Bush administration has set for the country over the last seven years.

Their call followed the fifth anniversary of US President George W. Bush's infamous 'mission accomplished' speech, in which he claimed that the 'major combat operations in Iraq have ended.'

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