DUBAI: Oman’s Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said arrived in Tehran on Sunday for a two-day visit expected to focus on regional diplomatic and security issues, Iranian state media reported, two days after Muscat mediated a prisoner swap between Iran and Belgium.

Oman has long been an interlocutor for the West with Iran and has mediated the release of several citizens and dual nationals.

Haitham is expected to meet Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi to discuss issues such as Tehran’s strained ties with Egypt and Iran’s disputed nuclear programme, Ira­ni­an state media reported.

The visit comes as Iran faces allegations that Rus­sia is using Iranian dro­nes in its war in Ukr­aine. Tehran denies supplying the drones for use in war.

Efforts by six world powers to revive Tehran’s 2015 nuclear deal have stalled since last Sept­ember, amid growing Wes­t­ern fears about the clerical establishment’s rapidly advancing nuclear programme.

The deal, which Washington President Donald Trump ditched in 201*, had imposed

curbs on Iran’s nuclear activities that extended the time Tehran would need to produce enough fissile material for a nuclear bomb, if it chose to do so.

Published in Dawn, May 29th, 2023