The 9th session of the Strategic Consultation Committee between the Sultanate of Oman and Iran was held in Muscat on Sunday in light of reports saying Tehran is exerting efforts to activate contacts with Washington for the return of indirect negotiations on the nuclear file.
Also on Sunday, Iran announced it has reached with the US an agreement to exchange prisoners, but Washington denied it as a "false" claim by Tehran.
The latest developments came two days after Saudi Arabia and Iran agreed to reestablish diplomatic relations and reopen embassies, at an initiative by Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Meanwhile in Muscat, Iranian sources said Sunday the Sultan of Oman, Haitham bin Tariq, will visit Tehran to hold talks regarding the stalled nuclear negotiations between Iran and the US.
This came while an Iranian delegation was in the Omani capital to attend the 9th session of the Strategic Consultation Committee between the Sultanate and Iran.
The Oman News Agency said the meeting focused on aspects of cooperation between the two countries in various fields, which contribute to strengthening bilateral relations and that the two sides exchanged views on a set of regional and global issues of common concern.
The Omani side was led by Sheikh Khalifa Ali Al Harthy, Undersecretary of the Foreign Ministry, while the Iranian side was led by Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs Ali Bagheri.
Separately, Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr bin Hamad al Busaidi met Bagheri and the two officials tackled bilateral cooperation between the two countries stressing keenness to promote it at various levels.
Meanwhile in Tehran, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian told state TV on Sunday that a prisoner swap was near with the US, but Washington immediately dismissed his comments as “false.”
"We have reached an agreement in recent days regarding the exchange of prisoners between Iran and the United States," Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian told state broadcaster IRINN.
The deal had been "signed and approved indirectly" last year, he added in a televised interview, saying the "American side is making its last technical arrangements" ahead of implementation.
"In our opinion, everything is ready," the minister said.
"If everything goes well on the American side, I think we will witness the exchange of prisoners in the short term."
At the White House, an official denied Amirabdollahian's statement about the prisoner swap, adding that the United States was committed to secure the release of Americans held in Iran.
“Claims by Iranian officials that we have reached a deal for the release of the US citizens wrongfully held by Iran are false," a spokesperson for the White House National Security Council said, according to Reuters.
One of several Americans held in Iran is Siamak Namazi, a businessman with dual US-Iranian citizenship, who was sentenced in 2016 to 10 years in prison for spying and cooperating with the US government.
In recent days, Namazi was allowed to conduct an interview with CNN from Tehran’s notorious Evin prison, beseeching President Joe Biden to secure his release and that of two other US nationals.
The prisoners also include Emad Sharghi, an Iranian-American businessman who was first arrested in 2018 when he was working for a tech investment company. Also, Iranian-American environmentalist Morad Tahbaz, is held in Iranian prisons. He also holds British citizenship.
In August, the Iranian judiciary said the US has arrested tens of innocent Iranians under the pretext of circumventing its cruel and inhumane sanctions.
For years, Tehran has sought the release of over a dozen Iranians in the United States, including seven Iranian-American dual nationals, two Iranians with permanent US residency and four Iranian citizens with no legal status in the United States.
Last week, Iranian news outlets said Tehran reached a prisoner swap deal with Washington to free Iranian nationals detained in America and release up to $7 billion in Iranian funds, held in South Korean banks, that are frozen due to US terrorism sanctions. The sources said that two States are taking part in the indirect negotiations between Tehran and Washington to secure the release of prisoners.
Meanwhile, Ali Alizadeh, the secretary of the National Security and Foreign Policy Committee at Iran's parliament quoted Amirabdollahian as saying that Sultan Haitham bin Tariq will pay an official visit to Tehran in the coming days, the Iranian Hamshahri newspaper reported on its website Sunday.
The Iranian newspaper added that during the Sultan’s visit, Iranian officials will be anticipating “good news,” referring to the Omani mediation to revitalize indirect negotiations between Washington and Tehran aimed at restoring the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.
