Iran said yesterday that there was no need to set the date for talks with the United States on Iraq in a hurry, ruling out a recent allegation that the postponement of the proposed talks was related to the formation process of the Iraqi government.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi was quoted by the official IRNA news agency as saying that no date had been fixed for Iran-U.S. talks on Iraqi issues yet.

"Iran has announced that talks with the U.S. have nothing to do with interference in the establishment of a new government in Iraq and this case is related to the Iraqi nation," said the spokesman." Talks with the U.S. in this respect need planning and so far no arrangements have been made," he stressed.

Iraqi Shiite, Kurdish and Sunni leaders are still haggling over the make-up of a new government, almost four months after the December general elections.

Asefi also said that the date would be announced explicitly when all issues concerned became definite.

When asked about the repeated calls from U.S. officials for talks recently, Asefi said Iran had given negative responses to the calls considering U.S. records, but "positively responded despite pessimism and precautions" when Iraqi officials raised this issue.

To hold talks is aimed to discuss withdrawal of the U.S. forces from Iraq and improvement of the U.S. conduct in that country, he said.

Similarly, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on March 25 that Iran would hold talks with the U.S. for the sake of the Iraqi people although the Islamic Republic did not trust the U.S. administration.

Meanwhile, local daily Kayhan reported that a group of students on Saturday held a protest against the proposed negotiations with the U.S. in front of the Supreme National Security Council, terming the dialogue with Washington as "betrayal of Islam."

On March 16, Secretary of the Iranian Supreme National Security Council Ali Larijani first voiced Iran's readiness to hold talks with the U.S. to solve Iraqi problems as proposed by Iraqi Shiite political leader Abdul Aziz al-Hakim.

In response, the White House authorized the U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad to hold talks with Iran.

Iran, which has been accused by the United States of allowing weapons and insurgents to cross into Iraq, had previously said it was not interested in discussions before the U.S. troops pulled out of Iraq.