Oman envoy in Iraq to discuss US-Iran tensions
Bin Alawi will discuss “solutions” for regional challenges
Baghdad: Iraq’s Foreign Ministry says an Omani envoy is in Baghdad to discuss ways of de-escalating US-Iran tensions.
The two-day visit by Yusuf bin Alawi, Oman’s minister of state for foreign affairs, comes against a backdrop of high-stakes diplomatic activity aimed at easing tensions between Washington and Tehran. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is expected in Tehran later on Wednesday.
Spokesman Ahmad Sahhaf told The Associated Press that bin Alawi will discuss “solutions” for regional challenges, adding that Iraq has become a pivotal country because of its “strategic relations with both Iran and the United States.”
The Sultanate of Oman often plays a role in mediating regional crises.
The visit coincides with a flurry of diplomacy aimed at easing tensions between the US and Iran after President Donald Trump withdrew the US from Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers.