Iran top diplomat meets senior Huthi official in Oman: ministry

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met in Muscat on Monday with Mohammed Abdelsalam, a senior official from Yemen’s Iran-backed Huthi movement, according to his office.

The foreign ministry released pictures of their talks during Araghchi’s visit to the Omani capital, the latest in a series of diplomatic trips in the region following Israel’s vow to retaliate against an Iranian missile attack. Araghchi held a “meeting and discussion of Mohammad Abdelsalam, the spokesman and chief negotiator of the Yemen National Salvation Government”, read the photo caption, referring to the Huthi administration.

Iran fired 200 missiles at Israel on October 1 in what it said was retaliation for the killing of Tehran-aligned militant leaders in the region and a general in Iran’s Revolutionary Guards. Israel has since vowed to respond. Yemen’s Huthis, along with the Palestinian Hamas group in Gaza and Hezbollah, make part of Iran’s “axis of resistance” of militant groups arrayed against Israel.

Araghchi’s visit to Muscat came after a trip to Baghdad. Last week, he visited Qatar and Saudi Arabia where talks mainly revolved around establishing a ceasefire in Lebanon and Gaza as well as ways to contain the conflict from spreading across the region.

On Sunday, Araghchi reiterated that Iran was “fully prepared for a war situation… but we do not want war, we want peace.” ___RSS