Araghchi is seen in late December giving a press conference after a meeting with his Omani counterpart in Tehran [Atta Kenare/AFP via Getty]
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi will visit Oman in the coming days to attend a regional conference, his ministry said on Friday.
“Abbas Araghchi will travel to Muscat upon an official invitation to participate in the 8th Indian Ocean Conference, which will be jointly hosted by Oman, India, and Singapore in Muscat,” foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said in a statement, without specifying the date of the visit.
Baghaei added that Araghchi would also hold bilateral meetings with foreign ministers and other officials participating in the event.
The conference is scheduled to take place on Sunday and Monday.
Oman has long played a mediating role between Iran and Western countries, and the visit comes after US President Donald Trump suggested he would like to strike an agreement with Iran on its contested nuclear programme.
“I’d love to make a deal with them without bombing them,” he told Fox News.
Trump, who returned to office in January, has reinstated his “maximum pressure” policy towards Iran over concerns it is seeking to develop nuclear weapons. Tehran denies the allegations.
In 2018, Trump withdrew his country from a landmark nuclear deal between Iran and world powers and reimposed biting sanctions on the country.
Tehran adhered to the deal – known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action – until a year after Washington pulled out, but then began rolling back its commitments.
A week ago, Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say in major state policies, said there should be no new negotiations with the United States.
“No problem will be solved by negotiating with America,” he said, citing past “experience”.
