"I cannot understand the concept of Iranian security cooperation with
its rival, the United States, because it means that Iranians will protect
American soldiers and at the same time plot against the allied Iraqi Shi'ite
militias," Atalla said. "This is unbelievable."
On Monday, Iran, Iraq and the United States began meeting in Baghdad to
discuss
the authority and tasks of the trilateral security panel. Officials said the
committee would discuss such issues as militias and Al Qaida in Iraq, Middle East Newsline reported.
"In the coming meeting, it is expected that representatives of Iran,
America and Iraq would hold discussions by experts regarding the form and
agenda of the security committee," Iran's ambassador to Baghdad, Hassan
Kazemi Qomi, said.
The trilateral panel, approved in late July, was expected to be
completed by September 2007. The committee was designed to discuss
insurgency threats, particularly by the Iranian-supported Mahdi Army and Al
Qaida.
Another Iraqi analyst, Wafiq Al Jumaili, agreed. Al Jumaili said Iran
would not end support to insurgency groups that would hamper Teheran's aim
of ensuring a rapid U.S. military withdrawal from Iraq.
"Iran wants to see Americans defeated and is not working for their
safety and comfort," Jumaili said.
The analysts said they expected Iran to propose the integration of the
Mahdi Army into the Iraq Army. To balance the Shi'ite influence, Sunni
insurgents could also be invited to join the Iraqi military.
"We cannot imagine an Iranian-American agreement to eliminate the Mahdi
Army, unless the Iranians benefit by resolving such issues with the United
States as the nuclear file," Abu Zahra, a commander in the Mahdi Army, said.
"We in the Mahdi Army and Al Sadr group are self-sufficient in our ability
to resist the American occupation."