US skeptical of Iranian tourism contribution to Iraq reconstruction

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States cast a skeptical eye on Iran's plan to assist in the reconstruction of Iraq by flooding the country with hundreds of thousands of dinar-spending tourists and religious pilgrims.

State Department spokesman Richard Boucher appeared uncomfortable when asked for Washington's reaction to the Iranian offer which was made on Friday at an international donors conference for Iraqi reconstruction in Madrid.

He said he did not believe that Iraqi authorities or the US occupation administration would have a problem with an influx of Iranians "as long as they're truly pilgrims."

"We've made clear that religious freedom is part of the environment that we'd like to create in Iraq and part of the environment the Iraqis themselves want to create," Boucher told reporters.

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