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'No grounds' for indirect talks with US: Iran

"Currently, we don't see any grounds for these talks, until we can get past the current crisis [in the Middle East]", Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi tells reporters while visiting Muscat, Oman.

AFP

This picture by the Oman News Agency shows Oman's Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr al Busaidi (R) receiving Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Muscat on October 14, 2024. / Photo: AFP

Iran said it currently sees "no grounds" for its indirect talks with the United States via intermediary Oman, citing the crisis in the Middle East.

In June, Tehran said it had engaged in indirect talks with Washington via Muscat, despite the two countries having no diplomatic relations.

US news website Axios reported at the time that officials from Iran and the United States held indirect talks in Oman "on how to avoid escalating regional attacks".

On Monday, Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi visited the Gulf sultanate as part of a regional tour in which he met allies and Middle East powers after Israel vowed to retaliate against Tehran's recent missile attack.

"Currently, we don't see any grounds for these talks, until we can get past the current crisis," Araghchi told reporters in Muscat.

The talks, he said, had been halted "due to the specific conditions of the region".

Iran fired 200 missiles at Israel on October 1 in what it said was retaliation for the killing of Tehran-aligned leaders in the region and a general in Iran's Revolutionary Guards.

Israel has vowed to respond.

Israel suffers $53 million in damage from Iranian missile attack — report

Oman has long mediated between Iran and the United States, which cut ties after the 1979 Iranian revolution.

In Muscat, Araghchi met Mohammed Abdel Salam, a senior official of the Tehran-aligned Houthis in Yemen.

The Houthis, alongside Hezbollah and others, are part of the so-called "Axis of Resistance" of Iran-backed groups.

The United States is Israel's close ally and by far its largest provider of military assistance.

Araghchi also held talks with his Omani counterpart Badr Albusaidi over the developments in Lebanon and Gaza, and called for an "immediate end" to the conflict, said Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei.

Oman's Foreign Ministry said the two officials agreed on "harnessing diplomacy as an essential tool for resolving disputes and conflicts" in the region.

Before Oman, Araghchi was in Baghdad for talks with Iraqi officials.

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.