DUBAI: Oman is trying “with other parties” to reduce tensions between the United States and Iran, the Omani Foreign Ministry tweeted on Friday.
The tweet cited Yousuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah, the sultanate’s minister responsible for foreign affairs, who met on Monday in Tehran with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.
“There is a danger that a war breaks out, hurting the whole world ... Both parties, the American and the Iranian, are aware of the danger,” the tweet cited the Omani minister as saying in an interview with an Arabic publication.
معالي الوزير #يوسف_بن_علوي في حديث نشرته جريدة #الشرق_الأوسط اليوم نقلا عن مجلة #المجلة:
1- نسعى مع أطراف أخرى لتهدئة التوتر بين واشنطن وطهران، مشيرا إلى "خطورة وقوع حرب يمكن أن تضر العالم بأسره».وأكد أن الطرفين الأميركي والإيراني «يدركان خطورة الانزلاق أكثر من هذا الحد"— وزارة الخارجية (@MofaOman) May 24, 2019
Oman maintains friendly ties with both the United States and Iran and has previously been an important go-between for the two countries, which severed diplomatic relations in 1980. Washington and Tehran are in a protracted stand-off over Iran’s nuclear and missile programs.
Tensions have been building in the last few weeks. Washington has sent more military forces to the Middle East in a show of force against what US officials say are Iranian threats to its troops and interests in the region since the United States reinstated a range of economic sanctions against Iran.
President Hassan Rouhani said on Thursday that Iran will not surrender to US pressure and will not abandon its goals, even if it is bombed.
On Friday, Zarif lashed out at Trump during a visit to Islamabad, assailing the American president for his tweet this week warning Iran not to threaten the US again or it would face its "official end."
"Iran will see the end of Trump, but he will never see the end of Iran," Zarif said during his visit to Pakistan, where he was thought to be seeking Islamabad's help to de-escalate the situation
Another country trying to avert a confrontation in the region is Iraq. Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi said on Tuesday that Baghdad would send delegations to Washington and Tehran to help reduce tensions.
