At least 31 Shia pilgrims were killed in a Baghdad car bomb today less than 24 hours after Iran and the United States made an unprecedented attempt to bring peace to Iraq.

A car bomb sprayed shrapnel in Baghdad’s commercial Karrada district, maiming pilgrims in the latest in a string of attacks against the Shia faithful who had flocked to the city of Karbala for the religious festival of Arbaeen.

Last week, nearly 200 Shia faithful were slain by Sunni militants as they made their way to Karbala for the holiday, which mourns the death of the Muslim prophet Mohammed’s grandson Hussein in 680 AD. Another 21 people were killed in bombings around the country today.

Looking to stop the relentless violence, the Iraqi government hosted a regional conference in Baghdad on Saturday, bringing together the United States, Iran and Syria.

In particular, the meeting looked to break the ice between the United States and Iran, which have been vying for influence in Iraq. Nouri al-Maliki, the Prime Minister, addressed the conference, warning his guests that Iraq would not be an arena for proxy wars.

Although Washington and Tehran traded barbs, the summit’s 17 participants, including UN Security Council members and most Arab states, expressed support for convening a ministerial-level meeting, which will most likely be held in April or May, and to forming working groups to concentrate on Iraq’s border security, the country’s refugee problem and fuel imports.

However, the delegates failed to agree on a date or to name members to the committees.

Zalmay Khalilzad, the US ambassador to Baghdad, said today that he had talked with Iran’s envoy for a few minutes at the beginning of the session. Mr Khalilzad also described his discussions with Iran as direct and businesslike.

However, he repeated US claims that Iran is funding and arming Shia militant groups, supplying them with armour-piercing bombs that have killed at least 170 US soldiers since 2004. In turn, the Iranian representative, Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Ayrachi, called on the United States to give a date for the start of a phased withdrawal from Iraq.

He also demanded the release of five Iranian diplomats captured by the Americans since December, but US officials retorted the men were not diplomats, but fighters.

Tehran sounded a positive note today about the conference, despite the tensions with Washington. “It was a good first step,” foreign ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini told reporters in Iran.

He also signalled Iran’s enthusiasm for holding the second and higher level ministerial conference.

Iranian papers described the gathering as proof that America needed Iran to solve Iraq’s myriad problems. “The presence of representatives from Iran and the United States in a country which has become a quagmire for the United States is important,” said the conservative daily Ressalat. The situation in Iraq “obliged the hawks in the White House to make public how much they need Iran” for stabilising the country, it said.

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