Iran, Oman Discuss Nuclear Talks

Oman's Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr al-Busaidi with Iran's chief negotiator Ali Bagheri-Kani (ONA)
Oman's Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr al-Busaidi with Iran's chief negotiator Ali Bagheri-Kani (ONA)
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Iran, Oman Discuss Nuclear Talks

Oman's Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr al-Busaidi with Iran's chief negotiator Ali Bagheri-Kani (ONA)
Oman's Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr al-Busaidi with Iran's chief negotiator Ali Bagheri-Kani (ONA)

Oman's Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr al-Busaidi discussed with Iran's chief negotiator Ali Bagheri-Kani the latest developments on the nuclear agreement known as the "Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action" (JCPOA).

The Iranian Foreign Ministry issued a statement carried out by the state-run Agency (ISNA), saying Bagheri-Kani held consultations with Busaidi on regional and bilateral developments and follow-up on the agreements signed during the visit of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi to Muscat.

According to Oman News Agency (ONA), the two sides reviewed relations of cooperation between Oman and Iran.

They also discussed several regional and international matters of common interest, particularly the developments regarding the return to the nuclear deal, ONA reported.

The meeting stressed the importance of this deal in maintaining regional security and stability.

This is Bagheri-Kani's second foreign visit within a week, after his unannounced trip to Moscow, in the first diplomatic move after the failure of the latest rounds of talks in Doha.

Earlier, Qatari Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani held talks with his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir Abdollahian and the Secretary-General of Iran's National Security Council, Ali Shamkhani, on the nuclear negotiations.

Abdollahian said Iran is making no demands outside the parameters of its 2015 nuclear deal, asserting: "We have no requirement which goes beyond the nuclear agreement -- contrary to certain claims by the US party in the media."

He noted that the recent talks in Doha focused on the issue of guarantees, stating: "During the recent talks in Doha, one of the main questions we focused on was an effective guarantee from Washington assuring us of economic advantages linked to the agreement."

Iranian lawmaker Mahmoud Abbaszadeh criticized the Iranian Foreign Ministry for the lack of results in the Doha talks.

Abbaszadeh, the spokesman of the parliamentary National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, downplayed Abdollahian's statement about Tehran's "positive" assessment of the last round, noting that the US special envoy to Iran, Rob Malley, described it as a "waste of time."

"We could have worked better in Doha," said the lawmaker, adding: "We did not enter into the Doha talks with a calculated plan and a road map."

"The reason is that our foreign diplomacy apparatus does not have a well-prepared road map in this regard," said Abbaszadeh.



Zelenskiy Says North Korea Could Send More Troops, Military Equipment to Russia

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy attends a joint press conference with European Council President Antonio Costa (not pictured), amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine, December 1, 2024. (Reuters)
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy attends a joint press conference with European Council President Antonio Costa (not pictured), amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine, December 1, 2024. (Reuters)
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Zelenskiy Says North Korea Could Send More Troops, Military Equipment to Russia

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy attends a joint press conference with European Council President Antonio Costa (not pictured), amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine, December 1, 2024. (Reuters)
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy attends a joint press conference with European Council President Antonio Costa (not pictured), amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine, December 1, 2024. (Reuters)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Monday that more than 3,000 North Korean soldiers have been killed and wounded in Russia's Kursk region and warned that Pyongyang could send more personnel and equipment for Moscow's army.

"There are risks of North Korea sending additional troops and military equipment to the Russian army," Zelenskiy said on X after receiving a report from his top military commander Oleksandr Syrskyi.

"We will have tangible responses to this," he added.

The estimate of North Korean losses is higher than that provided by Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), which said on Monday at least 1,100 North Korean troops had been killed or wounded.

The assessment was in line with a briefing last week by South Korea's spy agency, which reported some 100 deaths with another 1,000 wounded in the region.

Zelenskiy said he cited preliminary data. Reuters could not independently verify reports on combat losses.

Russia has neither confirmed nor denied the presence of North Koreans on its side. Pyongyang initially dismissed reports about the troop deployment as "fake news", but a North Korean official has said any such deployment would be lawful.

According to Ukrainian and allied assessments, North Korea has sent around 12,000 troops to Russia.

Some of them have been deployed for combat in Russia's Kursk region, where Ukraine still holds a chunk of land after a major cross-border incursion in August.

JCS added that it has detected signs of Pyongyang planning to produce suicide drones to be shipped to Russia, in addition to the already supplied 240mm multiple rocket launchers and 170mm self-propelled howitzers.

Kyiv continues to press allies for a tougher response as it says Moscow's and Pyongyang's transfer of warfare experience and military technologies constitute a global threat.

"For the world, the cost of restoring stability is always much higher than the cost of effectively pressuring those who destabilize the situation and destroy lives," Zelenskiy said.