TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Oman’s foreign minister is in Iran for bilateral talks as tensions between Washington and Tehran roil the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz, the passageway for a fifth of all globally traded crude oil.
Oman, which has been a facilitator of talks between the U.S. and Iran in the past, sits across the strait from Iran.
Saturday’s meeting between Oman’s top diplomat, Yusuf bin Alawi, and his Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Javad Zarif, is seen as an effort at mediation over the British-flagged tanker Stena Impero, seized in the Strait of Hormuz earlier this month by Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard.
Neither Oman nor Iran has confirmed that any mediation efforts are underway.
The U.K. ship is now in an Iranian port, along with its 23 crew members.
