BEIRUT: Iran’s acting foreign minister Ali Bagheri said on Monday his government was engaged in negotiations with arch-foe the United States hosted by the Gulf sultanate of Oman.

Asked about the issue at a news conference during a visit to Beirut, Bagheri said “we have always continued out negotiations… and they have never stopped.” Washington and Tehran have not had diplomatic relations since the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran.

The British daily Financial Times reported in March that Bagheri was involved in indirect talks with the United States in Oman in early 2024, against the backdrop of heightened regional tensions over Gaza.

Bagheri arrived Monday in Lebanon, on his first foreign trip since assuming the interim role following the death of Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in a helicopter crash last month that also killed Iran’s president, Ebrahim Raisi. Bagheri said the choice of destination for his visit was “because Lebanon is the cradle of resistance” against Israel.

Bagheri, Iran’s former top nuclear negotiator, said discussions with Western powers about Tehran’s atomic activities were ongoing. Western governments fear Iran is seeking to develop a nuclear weapon — a claim the Islamic republic has always denied.

Published in Dawn, June 4th, 2024