Holbrooke had brief and cordial exchange with Iranian deputy foreign minister, Clinton says
U.S. Special Representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke held a "brief and cordial exchange" with the head of the Iranian delegation attending an international conference here at the Hague, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said at a press conference.
Clinton said that she did not have any direct contact with the Iranian delegation herself. But she said that at her request, a letter was passed to the Iranian government here today asking for assistance finding or gaining the release of three Americans held or believed missing in Iran, including former FBI officer Robert Levinson and US journalist Roxana Saberi.
"During the course of the conference, Rep. Holbrooke held a brief and cordial exchange with the head of the Iranian delegation, not substantive," Clinton said in answer to a queston following her prepared statement after the Hague Afghanistan conference.
At her request, "A letter was delivered to Iran," Clinton added, saying it was one of two exchanges between the U.S. and Iran that had occurred here today. "In the letter, we asked Iran to use all its faciilties to ensure the safe and quick return of Robert Levinson, and the release and free travel of Roxana Saberi and" another Iranian American being held in Iran.
"I myself had no contact" with the Iranian delegation, Clinton added.
Iran is being represented at the Hague "big tent" Afghanistan conference by deputy foreign minister Mehdi Akhundzadeh.
In his speech to the conference, Akhundzadeh, dressed in a dark pin stripe suit and white Nehru collar jacket, outlined its support for contributing to regional efforts to combat drug trafficking and improve security on the Iranian Afghan border.
“Welcoming the proposals for joint cooperation offered by the countries contributing to Afghanistan, I.R. Iran is fully prepared to participate in the projects aimed at combating drug trafficking and the plans in line with developing and reconstructing Afghansitan” the deputy foreign minister said.
Clinton spoke in a somewhat guarded by cautiously positive way about what she called the "Iranian intervention" at the conference, without naming the Iranian official who spoke and while trying to keep the focus on Afghanistan. "The U.S., Iran and all the nations here today have a mutual interest in a stable and secure Afghanistan," Clinton said. "The intervention by the Iranian representative set forth clear ideas" on countering drug trafficking and improving border security that Clinton said the U.S. would listen to.
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