Iran and the United States held secret, indirect talks in Oman in January, addressing the escalating threat posed to Red Sea shipping by the Houthis in Yemen, as well as the attacks on American bases by Iran-backed militias in Iraq, according to Iranian and U.S. officials familiar with the discussions.
The secret talks were held on Jan. 10 in Muscat, the capital of Oman, with Omani officials shuffling messages back and forth between delegations of Iranians and Americans sitting in separate rooms. The delegations were led by Ali Bagheri Kani, Iran’s deputy foreign minister and chief nuclear negotiator, and Brett McGurk, President Biden’s coordinator for the Middle East.
The meeting, first reported by The Financial Times this week, was the first time Iranian and American officials had held in-person negotiations — albeit indirectly — in nearly eight months. American officials said Iran requested the meeting in January and the Omanis strongly recommended that the United States accept.
Since the beginning of the war in Gaza after Hamas’s Oct. 7 attacks on Israel, the United States and Iran have reassured each other that neither was seeking a direct confrontation, a stance conveyed in messages they passed through intermediaries.
@MallardTomDemocrat2mos2MO
For our Republican friends, this is called “diplomacy.”
You might recall, but likely don’t care, that Presidents prior to 45 actually did this kind of work for the benefit of our country to keep the world safe.
We may also recall, presidents before 45, all the way back to 40, have been sending billions to IRI in hopes of working something out with them, and the problem is bigger and more serious now than ever. It’s called “appeasement”.
In return, we’ve achieved 2 things: helped keep a monstrous dictatorship in power, and helped dash Iranian peoples hopes for regime change and democracy.
There now.
Bush and Cheney didn't exhaust diplomatic options with Afghanistan and Iraq. They both rushed to go to war with them, because they had ulterior economic and geopolitical motives. The same was true with President Polk and Mexico, and so on. The results? The US lost and the Taliban won in Afghanistan, Iraq is friendly to the US but impoverished and unstable, as is Mexico. American Presidents are not always the diplomatic statesmen we imagine, and Donald Trump was not an aberration, especially when compared with other conservative Presidents.
@ISIDEWITH2mos2MO
Imagine if your safety was threatened by international conflicts; how important would it be for you that your government takes part in secret peace talks?
@9KYGZX2Republican2mos2MO
if my safety was threatened the national government needs to step in
@9KYGZQ82mos2MO
i think very important to ensure the government is all on the same page with peace for our country
@ISIDEWITH2mos2MO
What emotions come to mind at the thought of two opposing nations negotiating indirectly; is it a sign of weakness or a strategic move towards a common ground?
@9KYG73LConstitution 2mos2MO
Feels good. Being enemies with Iran is not in American interests.
@9KYGGX32mos2MO
I think it could be a strategic move but it also could be a sign of weakness depending on the state of that country at the time.
@ISIDEWITH2mos2MO
How would you feel if your country engaged in secret talks with a nation considered an adversary, and do you believe this could lead to peace or simply hide bigger issues?
@9KYG73LConstitution 2mos2MO
Iranians are far less dangerous to me and mine than domestic adversaries, and I'm an isolationist generally, so sounds good.
@9KYGGX32mos2MO
I don't really care if they did or not and it could hide bigger issues or it could just be nonsense or information that isn't relevant to everyday citizens.
@G3rrymanderHarperRepublican2mos2MO
The US decision to unilaterally withdraw from the JCPOA agreement reached under the Obama administration was one of the worst mistakes in diplomacy in recent history.
All that Iran wanted after decades of crippling sanctions and isolation was to rejoin the world economy and trade as a normal country would. This could have aided the liberalisation of the Iranian system and society.
Admittedly, the Iranians kept up their end of the bargain even after Trump's impulsive decision to scrap the JCPOA. Eventually, however, their patience ran out.
Hardliners in Tehran were now convinced that diploma… Read more
@M1norityGeckoDemocrat2mos2MO
How novel is to to have a U.S. administration engaged in strategic talks to neutralize Iran's nuclear capabilities rather than saber-rattling or engaging in diplomatic talks simply for the sake of doing so w/o a strategic framework (see, e.g., Trump & Kim-Jong Un).
No U.S. Presidency is perfect, even those whom you live unreservedly. Yet, despite its detractors, this one is pretty brilliant; poor at messaging, but great on substance.
Don't know where Presidential historians will rank it ten years from now, but to my mind, it's been amazingly effective!
Ideally, it will withstand a Trump candidacy in 2024.
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