US Cable News Network CNN says upcoming US direct talks with Iran shows that Washington needs Tehran to quell the violence in Iraq.

Suzanne Malveaux, CNN correspondent, in a report from the White House said on Monday, the decision to hold talks on Iraq showed, after four years, that how significant Iran's role is in solving Iraq situation.

CNN correspondent stated that after four years since the beginning of the Iraq war, it is clear US plans in Iraq have had no progress.

The report added that, all countries in the region support "political consensus" in Iraq but what the term means for the White House leaders is that Iran should use its influence to destroy Shi'a militia groups in Iraq.

On another note, the US Vice President Dick Cheney, returning from the Middle East today, said there was no contradiction between his warning to Iran from an aircraft carrier last week about nuclear containment and the decision to hold talks on Iraq.


"They're separate issues,'' Cheney told reporters traveling with him. "The president made clear the conversations in Baghdad are between ambassadors, focused on the situation in Iraq."

The report further added, "Bush administration follows two-sided policy on Iraq. on the one hand, US Vice President, Dick Cheney says USS John C. Stennis presence in the Persian Gulf sends a strong message and is a warning to Iran; and on the other hand Bush administration tells Iran we need your support in Iraq."

Suzanne Malveaux, concludes that talks with Iran represent a shift for the administration, which until recently resisted calls for direct discussions with Iraq's eastern neighbor.

The state-owned Islamic Republic News Agency IRIB yesterday quoted Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini as saying Iran agreed to the talks to "relieve the pain and suffering of the Iraqi people, support the government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and stabilize peace and security in Iraq.''

A date for the talks will be set by the end of this week, IRNA reported.

AM/KB