Iran FM to visit Saudi Arabia, Qatar ahead of possible US talks
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi will visit Saudi Arabia and Qatar on Saturday, a ministry spokesperson says amid reports that Tehran and Washington may hold a new round of indirect talks.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Esameil Baghaei made the announcement on Friday, saying Araghchi’s planned trips are in line with the Islamic Republic’s “principled policy of continuous reinforcement of relations with its neighbors.”
“The foreign minister will travel to Riyadh on Saturday to meet and hold talks with high-ranking Saudi officials,” Baghaei said.
Araghchi, he added, will also head to Doha on Saturday evening to participate in the Iran-Arab World Dialogue Summit.
The remarks came after American news website Axios reported that a fourth round of Iran-US indirect negotiations is expected to take place in the Omani capital of Muscat on Sunday.
The meeting had initially been scheduled for May 3, but it was postponed due to “logistical and technical reasons”.
The two sides have already held three rounds of indirect talks, mediated by Oman, on Tehran’s nuclear program and the removal of US sanctions.
The nuclear diplomacy has unsettled Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is pushing Trump to consider a military option against Iran.
Meanwhile, Axios reported that Trump met Israeli strategic affairs minister Ron Dermer at the White House and discussed the indirect Iran-US talks and the genocidal war on Gaza.
Citing two informed sources, the report said the meeting was not made public by the US or Israel.
