Bin Alawi Meets Zarif for 4th Time this Month

Iran

January 27th, 7:14am

Dammam - Merza al-Khuwaldi

Omani Foreign Minister Yusuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah holds talks with his Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Javad Zarif on Sunday. Photo released by Iran's Foreign Ministry

Omani Foreign Minister Yusuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah traveled on Sunday to Tehran for the third time this month to hold talks with his Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Javad Zarif. The Iranian Foreign Ministry said that during their meeting, the two sides reaffirmed the Iranian and Omani governments’ determination to cooperate and continue consultations to ensure the safety of navigation and the security of energy supplies. “Zarif and bin Alawi discussed bilateral cooperation regarding the Strait of Hormuz and emphasized their governments' will to guarantee maritime and energy security for all," the ministry said in a statement. The two foreign ministers also called on all sides to play a positive role in that process, it added. The Strait of Hormuz, which links the Middle East to Asia Pacific, Europe, North America and beyond, is a strategic route for world oil suppliers. The Omani news agency said Sunday that the two sides discussed bilateral and regional issues in addition to cooperation and consultation to serve the common interests of the two countries. Bin Alawi stopped in the Iranian capital on Sunday on his way back from the Swiss town of Davos. This is the fourth time the two diplomats meet this month and the third time bin Alawi travels to Iran where he is mediating between Tehran and Washington. He was in Tehran on Jan. 21 and had also traveled to the country on January 7 to attend the Tehran dialogue forum’s 23rd Gulf international conference. The two men also met two weeks ago in Muscat during the Iranian Foreign Minister’s short trip to the country, which was aimed at meeting with Canadian FM Francois-Philippe Champagne. In the past 40 years, Oman seeks to play a mediatory role in calming tensions between Tehran and Washington. The conflict between Iran and the US escalated after a direct order by President Donald Trump to kill top Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani near Baghdad’s international airport on January 3. After the assassination, Iran retaliated by firing dozens of ballistic at a major US military airbase in western Iraq.

from Asharq AL-awsat https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/2101306/bin-alawi-meets-zarif-4th-time-month