WRAPUP 3-US, Iran to meet in days for Iraq security talks

(Adds U.S. State Department comment)

By Guy Faulconbridge

MOSCOW, Feb 12 (Reuters) - Iranian and U.S. officials will meet within days in Baghdad for a new round of talks as part of efforts to build on recent progress in stemming sectarian violence, Iraq's foreign minister said on Tuesday.

Hoshiyar Zebari also said he was confident Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad would go to Iraq next month, a visit that would be the first by a leader of the Islamic Republic but which could also irritate the United States.

Washington, at odds with Tehran over its nuclear programme, wants Shi'ite Muslim Iran to use its influence with militias from the same sect in Iraq to stem attacks on U.S. forces and Sunni Muslim groups, which are deepening the cycle of sectarian violence in the country.

Iran denies arming and training militias fighting U.S. forces in Iraq, where violence has dropped sharply from levels 18 months ago, largely due to extra U.S. troops, Iranian cooperation to stabilise its neighbour and the emergence of American-backed Sunni militia.

"We're putting all our efforts into organising the next round of Iranian-American talks in Baghdad. We expect the next round of these talks will start literally in the next few days," Zebari told a news conference during a visit to Moscow.

"We are interested in the success of the negotiations because they could reduce tensions between Iran and other countries and will contribute to the improvement of the situation in Iraq," he said.

The U.S.-Iranian security talks are significant because they are one of the few forums in which officials from the two countries have direct contact. Diplomatic relations between Washington and Iran have been frozen for almost three decades.