White House Middle East advisor Brett McGurk. Photo: Brett McGurk.
US and Iranian officials held indirect talks in Oman last month regarding Tehran’s nuclear program, Axios reported on 9 June.
According to three sources with knowledge of the matter, White House Middle East coordinator Brett McGurk traveled to Oman secretly on May 8 for talks with Omani officials.
McGurk’s visit coincided with the arrival of an Iranian delegation, which included Iran’s top nuclear negotiator Ali Bagheri Kan.
The two sides then engaged in “proximity talks,” with Omani officials going between them and passing messages.
According to the sources, the aim of the talks was to deescalate tensions as a basis for future talks on a new nuclear agreement between the parties.
Axios indicated that it was not clear whether the parties negotiating in Oman were close to reaching such an understanding.
In 2015 Iran and several world powers, including the US, signed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which placed significant restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief. However, the Trump administration withdrew from the deal in 2018.
Washington accuses Iran of attempting to develop a nuclear weapon, while Tehran has stated the country’s nuclear program is for peaceful purposes. Iran has given international inspectors access to its nuclear sites and is subject to over a quarter of all nuclear inspections conducted worldwide.
The Axios report comes on the heels of a report on June 8 by the London-based Middle East Eye (MEE), which which claimed the US and Iran were “nearing a temporary deal,” that would see Washington provide some sanctions relief to the Islamic Republic in exchange for it limiting uranium enrichment activity.
The MEE report claimed that Iran would be allowed to export up to 1 million barrels of oil per day as part of the deal.
However, both the US and Iranian sides denied the report. “This report is false and misleading. Any reports of an interim deal are false,” a White House National Security spokesman said, with Tehran’s UN envoy saying that Iran’s “comment is the same as the White House comment.”
Despite the denials, US crude prices fell nearly 5 percent the same day, to $69.03 a barrel, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Brent futures, reflecting prices on the global market, fell as much as 4.3 percent, to $73.62.
The news comes less than a week after Saudi Arabia, long a regional rival of Iran, said it would cut 1 million barrels of oil a day as part of a deal between OPEC and its allies.
The OPEC+ group, led by Saudi Arabia and Russia, has cut production quotas multiple times since October, as a global economic slowdown has reduced oil demand.
Iran is currently able to sell some oil to China despite US sanctions. However, if additional Iranian oil comes onto the world market, this would put further downward pressure on oil prices.
Featured image: White House Middle East advisor Brett McGurk. Photo: Brett McGurk.
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