Iran and Iraq resumed high-level military talks on Wednesday for the first time since the two neighbors went to war in 1980, pledging to pursue peace and security in the region.

Iraqi Defense Minister Saadoun al-Dulaimi hailed his meeting in Tehran with Iranian counterpart Admiral Ali Shamkhani as a breakthrough after decades of mistrust dating from the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war.

"Up to today we had no relations so there are many important issues to be discussed," the semi-official ISNA students news agency quoted him as saying.

"Our goal is to assure our Iranian brothers that Iraq is a source of good ... not of evil and that Iraq wants to be a pillar of peace, stability and security in the region."

Iraqi officials have criticized Iran on many occasions since the 2003 US-led war to oust Saddam Hussein for allowing fighters and arms to cross their shared border to create instability in Iraq.

But the two officials made no mention of such problems in their public comments on Wednesday.

"The talks today were meant to heal the wounds of the past and begin a future based on fundamental relations between Iran and Iraq," Shamkhani said.

"We hope this visit will help the expansion of bilateral ties," he added.

Dulaimi's visit precedes the arrival in Tehran next week of a large Iraqi delegation headed by Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari.

(Chinadaily.com via agencies July 7, 2005)