US, Iran held secret talks in Oman earlier this year, reveals media report

U.S. officials engage in indirect talks with Iranian counterparts in Oman, marking the first known communication since a prisoner exchange last September

Amid escalating tensions in the Middle East, U.S. officials reportedly engaged in indirect talks with Iranian counterparts in Oman back in January, the Financial Times reported for the first time.

These meetings marked the first known communication between the U.S. and Iran since the prisoner exchange in September, a result of years of painstaking indirect negotiations.

White House Middle East adviser Brett McGurk and the Biden administration’s top official for Iran, Abram Paley, conveyed messages to Iranian officials through Omani intermediaries, the source disclosed, noting that all parties were present in the same building.

Topics discussed during the talks included Iran’s nuclear program and Houthi attacks on U.S. vessels in the Red Sea.

In recent months, the U.S. has conducted airstrikes on Iranian-backed militias in Syria and Iraq, as well as on the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen, as part of efforts to deter regional attacks.

While the possibility of further engagements was broached, the two sides have not yet proceeded with a second meeting, Financial Times said.

When asked for comment on the specifics of the talks in Oman, the State Department declined, stating: “We have various channels for communicating with Iran. We are not providing details on our communications with Iran, but since Oct. 7, the focus has been on addressing the full range of threats from Iran and the need for Iran to halt its overall escalation.”

In January, CNN reported on indirect backchannel communications with Iran, aiming to prevent a wider conflict in the Middle East while U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was on a regional visit.

During his meetings with regional leaders, Blinken aimed to emphasize that the U.S. did not desire an escalation of conflict and had no intention to escalate tensions.

Efforts to establish backchannels with Iran, through both partners and competitors like China, have been ongoing since the early days of the Gaza conflict as the U.S. sought to prevent a broader regional crisis.

Source: Newsroom

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