Rice praises Australia's foreign minister for helping U.S. on Iran, missile defense

SIMI VALLEY, Calif. -- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Wednesday praised Australia for engaging Tehran ahead of U.S.-Iran talks designed to get the Islamic republic to cooperate in quelling Iraq's sectarian violence.

"We have the really very strong support of Australia," Rice said. "Because Australia has diplomatic relations, it's been able to deliver those messages directly."

Australia's Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said he has stressed to Iran that, during the talks set to begin Monday in Baghdad, it should commit to stability in Iraq.

"I've made the point to the Iranians that they need to think about their long-term strategic interest in Iraq," Downer said at a joint news conference with Rice. "They don't want to see the collapse of the present government."

Iran, Iraq's eastern neighbor, is an increasing player on the global stage. It also has become a pariah because of suspicions that it is pursuing a nuclear weapons program.

Australia retains diplomatic links to Iran. The United States broke off relations following the 1979 hostage crisis and has clashed repeatedly with Tehran since.

When they meet next week, American and Iranian ambassadors are scheduled to discuss Iraq only -- not nuclear proliferation or other flash points between the two governments.

The Bush administration's agreement to hold talks was a softening of previous policy. It also was a nod to demands from Congress, allies and the bipartisan Iraq Study Group for wider engagement of Iraq's neighbors.

The United States claims elements in Iran have supplied munitions for insurgent bombs in Iraq, an assertion Rice and Downer repeated Wednesday.

Rice said she wants good relations between Iraq and Iran, which fought a war in the 1980s. She said that while Iranians have said the same, "They're not acting that way. They are supporting groups that are violent and are causing deaths of innocents."

Rice acknowledged difficulties in bringing democracy to Iraq following the toppling of Saddam Hussein. She called the nation's struggle to resolve religious and political differences without violence "more difficult than I would have thought, to be sure."

Downer and Rice spoke at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library after a private meeting.

Australia is a staunch U.S. ally -- its troops joined the 2003 invasion of Iraq and about 1,600 remain in the area.

The alliance has cost Prime Minister John Howard much of his popularity. Polls suggest it could cost him control of the government in elections expected this year.

Downer also addressed a report that his government had joined a U.S.-Japan study on deploying a regional missile defense system. Such a plan has accelerated following North Korea's nuclear test last year.

He said Australia supports the principle of missile defense, though he does not envision facilities on Australian soil to protect against a long-range threat.

"That others, including the United States, see a need for it is entirely understandable and we're happy to work with" those governments, Downer said.

Several hundred fifth-graders waving small U.S. and Australian flags cheered the arrival of Rice and Downer, who stopped to shake hands with students.

Shaded by oaks in one corner of the arrival courtyard were two men dressed as Revolutionary War-era soldiers from Britain, the two countries' shared colonial master. The students originally planned to come to the library for a civics lesson on the founding of America.

Later, at Camp Pendleton, the diplomat met with about 50 Marines and sailors and two pilots from the Australian army who are stationed in California as part of a military exchange program.

"I know you have deployed a lot, but I want you to know that you are deployed on behalf of a grateful nation," Rice told them. "It's sometimes hard to wonder if we are having the success that we should be having, but just remember that history has a long tale, not a short one."

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Associated Press writer Thomas Watkins contributed to this report from Camp Pendleton.