Zarif Holds Extensive Talks in Oman

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who was in Oman as part of regular consultations between the two countries, held extensive talks with several senior officials of the sultanate on Tuesday. 
He discussed bilateral ties, particularly regarding trade and economic cooperation, with his counterpart Yusuf bin Alawi.  
The two top diplomats had earlier held a first round of talks on Monday, after the Iranian delegation's arrival, ISNA reported.  
Bin Alawi had visited Tehran earlier this month and met Zarif and President Hassan Rouhani. 
The foreign minister also separately met Oman's Minister of the Royal Office Sultan bin Mohammed Al Namani and Deputy Prime Minister Sayyid Fahd bin Mahmoud Al Said.
They exchanged views on how to develop and deepen friendly relations between the two neighbors besides other topics of mutual interest. 
Zarif later published photos of his visits on his Twitter account, in addition to an account of his trip in Arabic. 
"As usual, yesterday and today I visited Muscat to discuss and consult with senior officials in the Sultanate of Oman regarding bilateral relations and regional and international issues," he tweeted. 
"Iran and Oman were and still are two neighboring countries that have very close relations. We will always be by the Sultanate of Oman." 

Talks on Yemen

Besides his meetings with Omani officials, Zarif also held discussions with the spokesman for Yemen's Houthi Ansarullah movement, Mohammed Abdul Salam, in Muscat. 
The two sides reviewed the latest political developments in the war-torn country.
Yemen has been the scene of a battle for over four years between the Iran-aligned Ansarullah movement, also known as Houthi fighters, and supporters of the ousted president, Abd-Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, backed by a Saudi-led coalition. 
Oman has always tended to act as peacemaker in the region and played a key role in negotiations that led to Iran's landmark nuclear agreement with six world powers in 2015. 
A close neighbor of Yemen, Muscat is now engaged in mediatory efforts to end the Yemeni crisis that has killed tens of thousands of people and pushed the Arab country to the brink of famine. 
It has refused to take part in the Saudi-led coalition and presented a seven-point peace plan instead. 
Iran is opposed to any foreign intervention and argues that the disputes need to be addressed through Yemeni-Yemeni negotiations. 
Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani had earlier stressed in a recent meeting with his Omani counterpart that "accepting a ceasefire in Yemen is a rational decision".
Abdullah Al Amri, a senior Omani parliamentary official, had also said the Yemeni peace process is making progress and Muscat is working to find a solution to end the war.