NYT:Chalabi, in Tehran, Meets With Iranian President Before Traveling toUS

[Pirate Smile]

Chalabi, in Tehran, Meets With Iranian President Before Traveling to U.S. Next Week

By DEXTER FILKINS
Published: November 6, 2005
TEHRAN, Nov. 5 — Ahmad Chalabi, the former Iraqi exile who has become a deputy prime minister, met with senior Iranian leaders here on Saturday in what appeared to be an effort to distance himself from their Islamist government, just days before he visits Washington.

In a series of closed meetings, including one with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, Mr. Chalabi said he had spoken to the Iranians about Iranian interference in Iraq's domestic politics, a move likely to endear him to the Bush administration.

American and some Iraqi officials have long alleged that the Iranian government is deeply involved in Iraq, directly assisting Iraqi political parties and private Shiite militias. "The principal reason is to tell them about our concern about some of the activities in Iraq," Mr. Chalabi said of the Iranians. "We feel it is very important to address some of these issues, like border security and so on."

Mr. Chalabi said he also made clear to the Iranians that the Iraqi government would maintain close ties to the United States. "It is important to emphasize and tell them very clearly that we working with the United States and they have come to help us liberate Iraq and that we are interested in having a decent Iraq," he said. "It is very important that they help us achieve that."

In raising the issues from the Iranians, Mr. Chalabi seemed to be trying to position himself as a secular, American-backed candidate, and possibly as Iraq's next prime minister.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/06/international/middleeast/06chalabi.html