Coming up on Inside Iraq:

 

Harsh words were traded between US and Iranian officials at the one-day international conference in Baghdad last week, called by Nuri al-Maliki, Iraqi Prime Minister to stop the violence in Iraq and prevent it from spilling over into the region.

Iran says the US presence in Iraq has worsened the violence

The Baghdad conference took place amid the US administration toughening its rhetoric on Iran and flexing its muscles at the UN over Tehran's disputed nuclear programme. 

 

For its part, Tehran has insisted that the US presence in Iraq was creating a magnet for extremists and has demanded a clear timetable for the withdrawal of US-led forces.

This rare and combative face-to-face encounter between US and Iranian diplomats underscored the differences between the US and Iraq's closest neighbours - Iran and Syria - over the sectarian bloodshed and how to end it.

Inside Iraq looks at whether or not these talks may represent the turning point in ending the crisis in Iraq and easing tensions between the US and Iran. 

 

Our guests this week are Hoshyar Zebari, the Iraqi foreign minister, Lord David Owen, the former British foreign secretary and Dr Imad Mustafa, the Syrian ambassador to the United States.