Iran's supreme leader has said his country backs the Iraqi government and accused the United States of seeking to undermine Tehran's ties with Baghdad.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's highest authority under its system of clerical rule, made the comments while speaking to visiting Iraqi President Jalal Talabani yesterday.
Iran has said it is studying an Iraqi request to hold more talks with US officials in Baghdad about Iraqi security after a first round of discussions in May.
The talks were the most high profile Iranian-US meetings in almost three decades.
Both sides described that meeting as positive but no date has been fixed for another session.
Mr Talabani was also due to meet Iraqi Shia cleric Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, the head of Iraq's largest parliamentary bloc. who is in Iran for medical treatment.
