US officials hold indirect talks with Iran in Oman to prevent regional escalation
White House Middle East envoy Brett McGurk and acting special envoy on Iran Abram Paley conveyed to Tehran consequences of aggression, Axios says
Senior US officials held indirect talks with Iran this week in Oman regarding the potential for escalation in the Middle East following last month’s hostilities between the Islamic Republic and Israel.
According to a Friday Axios report, the Biden administration sent White House Middle East envoy Brett McGurk and acting special envoy on Iran Abram Paley for the first indirect talks held between the two countries since January.
An Israeli government official confirmed the report to The Times of Israel and added that McGurk was also in Saudi Arabia this week.
Axios reported that McGurk and Paley met with Omani mediators on Tuesday for the indirect talks, although it is unclear who represented the Iranians.
According to sources who spoke to Axios, the US sought to underline to Iran the consequences of its actions and those of its proxies, most notably the Hezbollah terror group in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen.
Furthermore, the US conveyed its concerns over the status of the Iranian nuclear program. The Iranians said in April they would review their “nuclear doctrine,” likely referring to Tehran’s ostensible policy that its nuclear program is only meant for peaceful purposes.
That statement was triggered by Israeli threats to attack Iran after the Islamic Republic attacked the Jewish state directly for the first time, launching hundreds of ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones at the country.
Hostilities between the two countries escalated significantly after a top Iranian general was killed in Damascus in the beginning of April, leading to the Iranian attack on Israel, which was largely intercepted.
Israel’s threat to retaliate appeared to come to fruition a few days later when it reportedly struck an Iranian military base in Isfahan.
The bellicosity comes in the backdrop of Israel’s war against the terror group Hamas – an Iranian ally – in Gaza. The war broke out on October 7 when Hamas terrorists infiltrated Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping 252.
While the White House declined to comment on the Axios report, the State Department’s deputy spokesperson, Vedant Patel, did say on Monday that Washington is capable of communicating with Tehran when necessary.
Regarding Iran’s nuclear program, Patel said: “The Biden administration continues to assess that Iran is not currently undertaking the key activities that would be necessary to produce a testable nuclear device.”
McGurk and Paley also led the talks held in January, which focused on persuading Iran to curb attacks by the Houthis against commercial vessels in the Red Sea. The Iranian delegation at the time was headed by Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani.
