Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrived in Muscat on Saturday for talks with Omani officials on bilateral relations and regional security, as fighting between Iran and the United States entered a second day amid a dangerous escalation around the Strait of Hormuz.
Araghchi was welcomed by Omani officials upon his arrival in the Omani capital, according to Iran’s state-run news agency IRNA.
The visit was also confirmed by Al Jazeera, citing Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency. No further details on the substance of the talks were immediately available.
Iranian state media reported Friday that the situation in the Strait of Hormuz was expected to be among the issues discussed during the visit; a sign that Tehran may be using Muscat’s longstanding role as a regional mediator to help defuse the crisis.
Oman has repeatedly served as a back channel between Iran and Western powers, including during earlier rounds of nuclear diplomacy.
In mid-June, Iran and the US had reached a Pakistan-brokered memorandum of understanding aimed at ending their military confrontation and securing a lasting peace agreement.
But the two sides have since exchanged attacks over the past two days, after an escalation triggered by Iranian strikes on three commercial vessels passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
Tehran launched a series of strikes on Thursday targeting US military infrastructure in Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and Jordan, in retaliation for a second consecutive night of American attacks.
The exchange marks one of the most serious military confrontations between the two countries in years, raising fears of a wider regional war and threatening global energy markets that depend on safe passage through the strait.
Araghchi’s arrival in Muscat suggests Tehran is simultaneously pursuing diplomacy even as the military exchanges continue.
Oman, a Gulf state that has maintained working relationships with both Washington and Tehran, has historically played a discreet but influential mediating role in moments of acute US-Iran tension, and its officials are likely to press for de-escalation.
