US & Iran held indirect talks in Oman: Report

WASHINGTON: Senior US and Iranian officials held talks through intermediaries in Oman this past week, the first such conversations since Iran launched a retaliatory attack on Israel with hundreds of missiles and drones last month, according to a person familiar with the recent meetings.
Brett McGurk, the top White House official on

West Asia policy

, and

Abram Paley

, the deputy special envoy for Iran, attended the talks in Oman.

The goal was to try to get Iran, which supplies weapons and training to militias across West Asia, to move to rein in its partners. Since the Israel-Hamas war broke out, several Iran-backed militias in Iraq and Syria have stepped up attacks on US troops, raising fears of a wider war. The most powerful of the regional militias, Lebanon-based Hezbollah, has been exchanging fire with the Israeli military in northern Israel and southern Lebanon. However, US intelligence officials assess that neither Hezbollah nor Iran wants to engage in a wider war.
The US has had no diplomatic relations with Iran since 1979, and discussions are often conducted through intermediaries and back channels.
The format of the talks in Oman was similar to ones held in Jan: The Americans sat in one room while their Iranian counterparts sat in another, and Omani officials shuttled between the rooms.