BAGHDAD - The son of one Iraq's most senior statesmen on Saturday called for more dialogue between the United States and Iran as Shiites took their turn celebrating the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.
Ammar al-Hakim made his appeal during a sermon he delivered in place of his ailing father, Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim, leader of Iraq's largest Shiite party, the Supreme Islamic Iraq Council.
Iraq's Shiite-led government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has long played a delicate balancing act in the bitter rivalry between Washington and Tehran, putting off Iranian calls for a U.S. troop pullout while balking at U.S. pressure to take a tougher line against Tehran.
"We call for positive dialogue between America and Iran," al-Hakim said.
The senior al-Hakim attended the prayer service in southeastern Baghdad and was greeted by well-wishers afterward, three days after returning home from his last round of chemotherapy in Iran. He was diagnosed last May with lung cancer following tests in a Texas hospital, but chose to be treated in Iran to be near his family.....
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