REUTERS REPORTS: IRAN SAYS TALKS WITH US MEANINGLESS: IRAN SAYS US MASSACRED HUNDREDS OF IRAQIS

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran on Monday dismissed any prospect of new talks with the United States on Iraq, accusing U.S.-led forces on Monday of a "massacre" of the Iraqi people.

Iran says new talks with U.S. on Iraq meaninglessMon May 5, 2008 11:26am EDT

By Hossein Jaseb

http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSL0528762620080505

The two foes last year held three rounds of ground-breaking discussions in Baghdad, easing a diplomatic freeze of almost three decades, but Iraqi officials have expressed frustration that a fourth round has failed to get off the ground.

Iraq says it does not want its soil to become a battleground for a proxy war between the United States and Iran, which are also at loggerheads over Iran's disputed nuclear program.

"Right now, what we observe in Iraq is a massacre of the Iraqi nation by the occupying forces," Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini told a news conference.

"Concerning this situation, talks with America will have no results and will be meaningless."
Hosseini did not elaborate, but U.S. forces have been fighting daily battles with militiamen loyal to anti-American Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr in Baghdad for several weeks.