Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has accepted an invitation to visit Iraq, but no date has been set, the Foreign Ministry announced here Jan. 23. It would be the first visit to Iraq by a top Iranian leader.

Deputy Foreign Minister Labeed Abawi said the invitation to the Iranian leader was extended by Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd who has close relations with Iran's ruling clergy.

....

Many of Iraq's senior Shiite politicians had lived in exile in Iran during the 35-year rule of Saddam's Baath party and continue to maintain ties to Iran's leadership.

....

Iran says that, like the United States, it would like to see a stable and democratic Iraq.

Regardless of the outcome of various legal proceedings against Blackwater, the controversial security firm potentially faces a massive business setback this coming May. That's when its State Department contract to protect U.S. diplomats in Iraq comes up for renewal, and its hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue for the company are no longer a sure thing in light of the legal and political repercussions of two recent incidents in which Blackwater guards allegedly killed Iraqis.

A Washington, D.C., grand jury is currently hearing evidence involving one of the episodes. And if the U.S. were to bring criminal indictments against Blackwater personnel, many observers believe it could jeopardize the contract's renewal and further undermine the company's already shaky status in Iraq.