"It came as no surprise when British Prime Minister Tony Blair said Syria and Iran could be the key to halting bloodshed in Iraq," Tao Wenzhao, deputy director of the Institute of American Studies under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences told China Daily.

Giving testimony to the US Iraq Study Group, Blair said on Tuesday that unraveling the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Middle East's major flash point, would pressure Syria and Iran to stop supporting terrorism and back peace efforts, a vital step towards uniting moderate Muslim states to support any new plan for Iraq.

The study group, a bipartisan Washington commission, is attempting to promote dialogue with both Iran and Syria and taking soundings for US President George W. Bush on how to change course in Iraq.

According to Tao, following a severe setback in last week's mid-term elections, Bush's Republicans have to rethink their strategy in Iraq. Democrats seized both houses of Congress, a victory mainly attributed to voter anger over the war.

Recent political changes in the United States may make it easier for Blair to get his message across to Americans.

His testimony on Tuesday followed a major foreign policy speech on Monday in which Blair called for the West to press Iran to help stem the bloodshed in Iraq and build stability across the Middle East.

Britain has sent more troops to Iraq than any nation except the US, and rising violence in the war-shattered country, coupled with the British body count reaching at least 125, have heightened the urgency of calls for a change of strategy.

Nevertheless, "it's too early to say whether Britain's close relationship with the US has been damaged," Fu Mengzi, director of American Studies of the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations told China Daily.

Blair, as he has done in the past, perhaps, is using the kind of language that might help Washington to package what it wants to do, although it is too early to say whether there will be any change in Iraq strategy in the foreseeable future.

Iran's president said on Tuesday that he would talk to the US if Washington changed its attitude.

But Blair ruled out any negotiations with Iran over its contentious nuclear program in return for support over Iraq.

(China Daily November 16, 2006)