US, Iraqi leaders discuss concerns on Syria arms

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Vice President Joe Biden discussed with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on Friday the need to prevent Iraqi territory and airspace from being used to ship weapons to Syria, the White House said, amid allegations of an illicit arms flow from Iran.

It was the highest-level contact between Washington and Baghdad on the issue, following a Western intelligence report that Iranian aircraft had flown weapons and military personnel across Iraqi airspace to Syria to aid President Bashar al-Assad's efforts to crush an 18-month uprising.

Iraq on Thursday denied the allegation. The report said the flights had been organized by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Iran is a staunch ally of Assad.

U.S. officials said earlier this month they were questioning Iraq about Iranian overflights. On Wednesday, U.S. Senator John Kerry threatened to review U.S. aid to Baghdad if it does not put a halt to it.

"The vice president and the prime minister addressed issues of regional security, including the need to prevent any state from taking advantage of Iraq's territory or air space to send weapons to Syria," the White House said in a summary of the leaders' wide-ranging discussion.

But the statement stopped short of accusing Iraq's Shi'ite Muslim-led government of collaborating with Shi'ite Iran. Baghdad has resisted joining Western and fellow Arab calls for the Syrian leader to step down while also calling for a reform process in Syria.

Tehran is forbidden from selling weapons under a U.N. arms embargo, which is part of broader sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program.

(Reporting by Matt Spetalnick; Editing by Doina Chiacu)