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Source: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/3f96545e-f0f9-11db-838b-000b5df10621.html
U.S. Urges Iran to Join Iraq Talks
[Financial Times-UK] Condoleezza Rice is urging Iran to join her at a high-level conference on the future of Iraq next week, signaling that Washington is now ready for a serious exchange of views with Tehran after several months of resisting Iran's advances in the region. Rice told the Financial Times it would be a "missed opportunity" if Manouchehr Mottaki, Iran's foreign minister, did not attend the minister-level meeting to be hosted by Egypt. Rice's attempts to draw Iran into the conference - which will include Iraq's neighbors as well as the permanent members of the UN Security Council and the G8 industrialized nations - contrasted with her previous resistance to such talks. Iran's foreign ministry spokesman on Sunday noted a "softening" in Rice's rhetoric. But he added that any "shift" should be put into practice.