• Tehran, Washington to hold expert-level talks on Saturday
• US targets Iranian LPG magnate with sanctions
MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed Iran’s nuclear programme on Tuesday with the visiting leader of Oman, Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said, a Kremlin official was quoted as saying.
Oman has been mediating between Iran and the United States as President Donald Trump seeks an agreement that would curb Iran’s nuclear programme, which Washington believes is aimed at developing a nuclear weapon.
“We discussed the progress of negotiations between Iranian and American representatives,” Interfax quoted Kremlin foreign policy aide Yury Ushakov as saying. “We will see what the result will be. We maintain close contact with our Iranian colleagues. Where we can, we help.”
Besides meeting with the Omani Sultan, Putin also announced plans to stage a summit with the Arab League group of states later this year as Moscow searches for new partners after its three-year offensive on Ukraine. Slapped with sweeping Western sanctions after sending troops into Ukraine, Russia has turned towards Asian, African and Arab countries for political and economic ties.
“We plan to hold a summit between Russia and Arab countries this year,” Putin told Sultan of Oman. “Many of our friends in the Arab world support this idea,” he added, inviting bin Tariq to the summit, without specifying the date and location.
Oman recently hosted talks between the United States and Iran, the highest-level meeting between the two sides since Donald Trump abandoned a landmark nuclear deal in 2018 during his first term as US president.
Trump has threatened to bomb Iran unless a deal is reached; Iran denies seeking atomic weapons. Russia signed a strategic partnership treaty with Iran in January and is also trying to improve relations with the Trump administration.
In televised comments, Putin was shown telling the sultan that Russian energy companies were interested in developing relations with Oman. It was the second time in less than a week that Putin has met face-to-face with a Middle Eastern leader, following a visit by the emir of Qatar on April 17. Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi visited last week.
US-Iran talks date moved
Expert-level Iran-US talks that were supposed to take place on Wednesday will be shifted to Saturday, Tehran’s foreign ministry spokesperson said, with a third round of high-level nuclear talks due on the same day in Oman.
Iran and the United States agreed on Saturday to begin drawing up a framework for a potential nuclear deal, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said after the talks in Rome that a US official described as yielding “very good progress”.
“Based on Oman’s suggestion and the agreement of US and Iranian delegations, the technical consultation meeting, in the framework of indirect talks between the two sides, that was supposed to take place on Wednesday… has been moved to Saturday,” foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said on Tuesday.
US President Donald Trump, who abandoned a 2015 nuclear pact between Tehran and world powers during his first term in 2018, has threatened to attack Iran unless it reaches a new deal swiftly that would prevent it from developing a nuclear weapon.
Top US and Iranian negotiators will meet again in Oman on Saturday to “review the experts’ work and assess how closely it aligns with the principles of a potential agreement”, Araqchi had said.
Western powers suspect Iran is pursuing the capability to assemble a nuclear weapon, which Tehran denies.
Iran, which insists its uranium enrichment programme is peaceful, says it is willing to discuss limited curbs to its atomic activity in return for a lifting of international sanctions against it.
US sanctions Iranian magnate
The US issued new sanctions on Tuesday targeting Iranian liquefied petroleum gas magnate Seyed Asadoollah Emamjomeh and his corporate network, the Treasury Department said, amid ongoing talks with Tehran.—Agencies
