Iran Says Saudi Arabia Requested Postponement of Hormuz Strait Talks in Oman
Geopolitics
Ismail Baghaei, spokesperson for Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, disclosed that a meeting between the foreign ministers of Iran and Arab Gulf countries, which had been scheduled to be held in Oman, was postponed at the request of Saudi Arabia. Baghaei announced this at the weekly press conference in Tehran, after Badr bin Hamad Al Busaidi, Oman's foreign minister, announced yesterday that the meeting had been postponed. The Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson also rejected reports he described as inaccurate, which claimed that the postponement was due to the situation between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis in Yemen. Earlier, the Financial Times reported, citing sources, that foreign ministers from the Arab Gulf states and Iran were scheduled to meet on September 14 in Salalah, Oman, to discuss a temporary agreement on regulating navigation through the Strait of Hormuz. This round of talks, initiated by Oman, marks the first meeting of senior diplomats from the six member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council, or GCC, with Iran since the United States and Israel launched attacks on Iran on February 28. The GCC comprises Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, and Saudi Arabia.
