Asked if Washington has sent a message to Iran through the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Iraq Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, Matthew Miller said, "I will never – I have – as I have said before at this podium, I will not comment on specific engagements. But we’ll note, as we have many times, that we have always said we have the ability to deliver messages to Iran when it’s in our interest."
Regarding yesterday’s visit by the UN envoy to Iraq to Iran and her meeting with the Iranian foreign minister, he said, "I won’t speak to the UN envoy’s visit. I will say that, obviously, Iraq has bilateral relationships with Iran. What we have always said is we would like for those bilateral relationships to be a normal relationship that reflects Iraqi sovereignty."
"And so in the extent – to the extent there are bilateral relationships between the country, we hope that it would be one that respects, as I said Iraqi sovereignty," he added.
Heading a high-ranking delegation, Hennis-Plasschaert discussed the latest developments in Iraq with top Iranian diplomat Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in Tehran Sunday.
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