An unnamed foreign ministry source rejected the claims by some media, including the UAE's Albayan newspaper, that an Iranian mission is in Oman holding trilateral talks with US and Houthi delegates on the situation in Yemen.
"A foreign ministry official denied the alleged presence of an Iranian delegation in the Omani capital of Muscat for negotiations over the Yemen crisis," Fars news agency reported on Monday.
"There is no Iranian mediation under way in Muscat between the Americans and the Ansarullah movement," the official said. The Khaleej Times also reported on Sunday that "neighboring Oman, which enjoys good relations with Tehran and is a member of the (Persian) Gulf Cooperation Council… hosted (talks between) representatives of Houthi fighters and delegates from Iran," with no mention of the involvement of any US mission.
Albayan also wrote that the United Nations special envoy for Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, has received guarantees from all concerned parties that they will attend the Geneva peace talks on Yemen, which he expects to be held this month.
The Geneva conference was due to take place on May 28 but was postponed, in a fresh blow to UN efforts to end a conflict estimated to have killed almost 2,000 people.
