The United States said Tuesday that Iran's possible absence at an international conference on Iraq is "rather unfortunate" and urged Teheran to show support for a stabilized Iraq.

"If in fact that is their final position, it's rather unfortunate," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said.

"It's a conference focused on Iraq, and certainly their presence there would be one signal that they truly have an interest in seeing a more prosperous, more stable, more democratic Iraq," McCormack said.

McCormack suggested Iran's absence of the meeting would undermine Teheran's stated support for efforts to stabilize Iraq. "We would encourage all of Iraq's neighbors to follow their words with actions," he said.

The May 3-4 conference will be held in Egyptian resort of Sharmel-Sheikh and Iran has said it might not attend the conference.

In addition to Iraq's neighbors, the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, as well as Japan, Germany and Canada, are expected to attend the conference.