Iran said it was prepared to talk directly with the United States about Iraq, a shift for a country that has long avoided negotiations with what it calls the "Great Satan". Ali Larijani, the secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, told reporters on Thursday that any talks between the United States and Iran would be limited to Iraqi issues.Larijani, who is also Iran's top nuclear negotiator, said Zalmay Khalilzad, the US ambassador to Baghdad, had repeatedly invited Iran for talks on Iraq. In Washington, White House spokesman Scott McClellan said Khalilzad was authorised to talk to the Iranians about Iraq just as the United States had talked to Iran about Afghanistan. "This is a very narrow mandate dealing specifically with issues relating to Iraq," McClellan said, adding that it did not include US concerns about Iran's nuclear programme.