Officials said, however, that lower-level Iranian and U.S. diplomats -- the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker, and Iran's deputy foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi -- held a brief informal talk during the two-day meeting in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt.
Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari called this contact between Iran and the United States a "positive sign."
Dress Controversy
U.S. officials said the Iranian foreign minister had departed early from a dinner with Rice and other delegates on May 3, apparently because the dress worn by the evening's entertainer, a female Ukrainian violinist, did not meet Islamic standards.
Violinist Larissa Abramova said on May 4 that she was wearing a red, sleeveless dress with long matching gloves and a red scarf, AP reported.
Rice did have a meeting during the conference with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem -- the first such high-level talks between the United States and Syria in more than two years.
Copyright (c) 2006. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. www.rferl.org
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