The United States admitted on Monday that it plans to have contacts with Iran and stressed that the contacts will be mainly about Iraq.

At a briefing on Monday, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack confirmed plans by Zalmay Khalilzad, the US ambassador to Iraq, to meet with the Iranians, although he said Khalizad will only have a "very narrow mandate."

"It's a very narrow mandate that he has, and it deals specifically with issues related to Iraq," McCormack said.

McCormack said that there have been contacts between the United States and Iran related to Afghanistan before, "so there is precedent for this kind of engagement."

The United States has accused Iran of failing to control its border with Iraq and allowing insurgents to enter Iraq to fight against the US-led multinational forces there.

The United States severed its relations with Iran after US diplomats were taken hostage in Teheran in 1979.

Source: Xinhua