MUSCAT, 23 May 2006 — Oman said yesterday that Gulf Arab states wanted direct talks with Iran to help resolve the crisis provoked by Tehran’s nuclear program and strongly backed European efforts for a negotiated settlement.
Foreign Minister Yusuf ibn Alawi ibn Abdullah told reporters after talks with his visiting German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier that Europe could count on the Gulf states’ support to help end the standoff.
“We expressed our great respect for the German side for its constant efforts to achieve a peaceful resolution that is acceptable for all the parties concerned,” he said. “We strongly support these efforts and are committed to continuing close consultations with the German side on this question.”
Information Minister Hamad ibn Mohammad Al-Rashdi told reporters traveling with Steinmeier, who began a visit to the region on Saturday, that Oman wanted to do what it could to avert a confrontation between Tehran and the West.
“There is coordination, of course” between the six Gulf Cooperation Council countries “in order to find out if it is possible to have a sort of dialogue to continue on a diplomatic course” with Iran.
Asked whether a Gulf Arab delegation might visit Tehran soon, Rashdi said this was still under discussion.
But Alawi dismissed reports that he personally would travel to Tehran for direct talks saying this had been simply “an idea that was considered”.
Steinmeier said the involvement of Iran’s neighbors in the region was key at this critical time in the negotiations.
“I think we have an occasion to step up our common efforts to reach an agreement soon. That requires a reliable message from the Iranian leadership that they really want to return to the negotiating table,” he told a joint news conference.
“Such a reliable message, ladies and gentlemen, you know this, has been completely lacking until now and that is why we agreed last night to use what we have at our disposal in this situation and to consult closely,” he said, referring to talks late Sunday with Alawi and Sultan Qabus ibn Said.
Iran reiterated yesterday that its uranium enrichment program was not up for negotiation, again rejecting European efforts to secure a halt to the sensitive nuclear work.
Iranian government spokesman Gholam Hossein Elham also promised Tehran would continue to work toward reaching an industrial-scale capacity in enrichment — a process which can be extended to make nuclear weapons.
Iran says it only wants to make civilian reactor fuel, a right enshrined by the Non-Proliferation Treaty and overseen by the International Atomic Energy Agency.
The news that a joint initiative by Gulf states was being considered was made known Sunday by Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah.
Neither Kuwait nor Oman is calling this initiative mediation, however.
The initiative aims to facilitate “global cooperation (by Tehran) with the international community at large, and the International Atomic Energy Agency in particular,” Sheikh Mohammed said Sunday.
Any escalation in the international confrontation over Iran’s nuclear policy “would have disastrous results on the entire region”, Rashdi said in Muscat. “We hope that any confrontation would not be scaled up to harm the free passage of oil in the Strait of Hormuz,” he said, adding that Oman hoped there would also be direct talks between the United States and Iran on the issue.
“There is no substitute, especially in this case, to direct dialogue,” Rashdi said.
Steinmeier’s next stop on his Gulf tour is the UAE capital Abu Dhabi.
