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Baghdad: The United States and Iraq are now "very close" to an agreement on the presence of American troops in the country beyond 2008, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said on Tuesday.
"There have been new ideas and new language that could be acceptable, but no final decision has been made. This needs some bold political decisions now," Zebari told reporters in Baghdad's highly-fortified Green Zone.
He was speaking at a press conference with visiting US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte, shortly after two bombs went off just outside the Green Zone, leaving at least one Iraqi soldier injured.
Baghdad and Washington are in talks over the so-called Status of Forces Agreement to determine the future status of US-led troops after a UN Security Council mandate expires on December 31.
Zebari said the two countries were acutely aware of the time constraint to work out an arrangement before the end of the year, but declined to be pinned down to a deadline.
"Discussions between the two have achieved a very advanced level and the disputed points will be resolved," Zebari said, adding that he expected negotiations to be stepped up in the coming weeks.
"We are very close to reaching a satisfactory result for the two countries and the two people."
But differences remain, notably on granting immunity to US soldiers for acts committed in Iraq, whether Washington has the right to detain Iraqi prisoners, and on the future command of military operations on the ground.
Zebari, speaking alongside Negroponte, said the two sides had cleared many of the sticking points on immunity and jurisdiction, but insisted nothing was final.
'Disgrace'
Negroponte, who has been on a tour of several northern provinces during a four-day visit that finished yesterday, also said a security pact was close, and that he was encouraged by advances on security and political policy in Iraq.
He said the adoption by parliament of a controversial provincial elections law paving the way for polls by the end of January was "noteworthy" while "progress on security is striking." Meanwhile, the proposed US-Iraqi security deal would be a "disgrace" for Iraq and should be rejected, a top Iranian military official said yesterday in a statement.
Gen Masoud Jazayeri, deputy chief of staff at the Iranian armed forces, accused the US of pressuring the Iraqi government to approve the deal.
"The Iraqi people won't be deceived by propaganda and the psychological warfare launched by the US and its allies to pressure the Iraqi government to approve the security deal," Jazayeri said in a statement yesterday.
Iraq's parliamentary speaker Mahmoud Al Mashhadani arrived in Tehran yesterday also to discuss the deal, the official IRNA news agency reported.
Iranian media say the agreement would allow the US to set up 14 military bases across Iraq, authorise a long-term American military deployment in the country, give judicial immunity to US nationals and allow the use of Iraqi land, sea and airspace to launch attacks in the region.
Iran opposes the US-Iraqi security talks, saying the presence of American forces in Iraq causes regional instability.
Jazayeri said the deal, if approved, would be a disgraceful blot in Iraq's history.
"Undoubtedly, the Iraqi leaders are careful of any mischief in this regard and won't allow Iraqi history to be stained with such a disgrace," Jazayeri said.
US Ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker, accused Iran last month of blocking the deal, saying a steady stream of public statements from clerical and political figures in Tehran make it clear that Iran is interfering in the bilateral negotiations.
Last month, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki said his government was ready to compromise to reach a security accord with the US but neither he nor Iraq's parliament will accept any pact that falls short of the country's national interests.
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