Iran says considering attending Iraq meeting: TV

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran, accused by Washington of backing militants in Iraq, is reviewing Baghdad's invitation to attend a regional conference on ways of easing tensions in Iran's neighbor, a senior official said on Wednesday.

The United States has said it will attend both a mid-level meeting in March and a ministerial meeting that may be held in April. Syria, accused by Washington of igniting tension in Iraq by failing to control its border, has also been invited.

Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, said Tehran was considering the offer.

Iranian officials had previously said Tehran was not interested in discussions before U.S. troops pulled out of Iraq.

"In order to help resolve problems in Iraq, Iran will do its utmost. We will attend the meeting if (we reach the conclusion) that it is in Iraq's interests," Larijani was quoted by Iran's state television as saying.

As well as being at loggerheads over Iran's nuclear program, Washington also accuses Iran of fuelling violence in Iraq. Tehran and Damascus dismiss the charges.

Iran blames the United States for destabilizing Iraq and for stoking tension between Shi'ite Muslims, who form a majority in Iran and Iraq, and Sunnis.

Iran's most powerful figure, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has ruled out direct talks with the United States, which broke ties with Tehran in 1980.

Ambassadors from Iraq's neighbors as well as the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States -- are expected to attend the conference.