Iranian FM: Indirect Talks With U.S. Halted

Date: 14 October 2024 - 22:11

News ID: ۱۳۲۴۳۷

MUSCAT (Dispatches) -- Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said here Monday indirect talks between Iran and the U.S. with Oman acting as an intermediary have been halted “due to the specific circumstances of the region.”
“Oman has always contributed greatly in solving the regional problems and regarding Iran and the U.S., it has always tried to play a positive role in conveying a message or preparing the ground for the negotiations,” Araghchi said.
The sultanate on the eastern edge of the Arabian Peninsula has long been an interlocutor between Iran and the U.S.
“For the time being, the Muscat process is stopped because of special situation in the region,” Araghchi said. “We do not see any ground for the talks until we can pass the current crisis.”
Asked whether he conveyed a message to the U.S. during his visit to Oman, Araghchi said, “No message has been sent to other countries.”
Tensions remain high over possible Israeli aggression against the Islamic Republic over Iran’s missile strike on Zionist military and intelligence bases around the Tel Aviv area two weeks ago.
In his talks with officials of the regional countries, Araghchi said, he announced Iran’s stance and called on them to inform all sides of the Islamic Republic’s positions.
The minister emphasized that both the U.S. and European countries as well as regional states must be aware of Iran’s stance on regional developments.
“Our position is crystal clear and we have repeated many times that we do not want war and conflict although we are fully prepared for it. We think that diplomacy should work,” Araghchi said.
He said the region is in an “alarming” situation and may face extensive conflicts, adding that only diplomacy can prevalent major crises and intensification of tension and war.
Meanwhile, Araghchi met with Muhammad Abdelsalam, a senior official from Yemen’s Ansarullah movement.
Yemen’s foreign ministry released pictures of their talks during Araghchi’s visit to the Omani capital, the latest in a series of diplomatic trips in the region following Israel’s threats aggression against Iran.
Araghchi held a “meeting and discussion of Muhammad Abdelsalam, the spokesman and chief negotiator of the Yemen National Salvation Government”, read the photo caption.
Iran fired 200 missiles at Israeli targets on October 1 in retaliation for the Zionist regime’s assassination of Hamas and Hezbollah leaders and a general in Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps.
Yemen’s Ansarullah, along with the Palestinian Hamas group in Gaza and Hezbollah, make part of the “axis of resistance” arrayed against Israel.
Araghchi’s visit to Muscat came after a trip to Baghdad.
Last week, he visited Qatar and Saudi Arabia where talks mainly revolved around establishing a ceasefire in Lebanon and Gaza as well as ways to contain the conflict from spreading across the region.
On Sunday, Araghchi reiterated that Iran was “fully prepared for a war situation... but we do not want war, we want peace.”