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Iranian FM Visits Gulf Countries amid Anticipation of ‘Nuclear Understanding’

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian (Iranian Presidency)
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian (Iranian Presidency)
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Iranian FM Visits Gulf Countries amid Anticipation of ‘Nuclear Understanding’

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian (Iranian Presidency)
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian (Iranian Presidency)

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian is embarking on a Gulf tour encompassing Oman, Qatar, and Kuwait, amidst anticipation regarding an Iranian-US “understanding.” This understanding may potentially facilitate the release of a portion of Tehran’s frozen assets through financial channels passing through Doha and Muscat.

Earlier this week, the Iranian top diplomat had received his Saudi counterpart, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, engaging in discussions about enhancing bilateral relations and areas of cooperation.

Amir-Abdollahian’s Gulf tour was confirmed by a concise statement released by the Iranian Foreign Ministry.

The confirmation came after Telegram channels affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards had reported that the minister was carrying a response to a US message conveyed by Oman’s Sultan Haitham bin Yusuf to Tehran three weeks ago.

Omani Foreign Minister Badr Al-Busaidi affirmed in a press statement last Wednesday that Washington and Tehran are nearing the final stages of reaching an agreement to release detained US citizens.

This comes after the Iranian Foreign Ministry confirmed the proximity of a deal through Omani mediation.

The US and Iran are in talks to reach an “understanding” that includes exchanging detained Americans for unfreezing Iranian assets.

There is a possibility that this understanding may also involve placing restrictions on Iran’s uranium enrichment program, which is getting closer to nuclear weapon levels.

According to a Western official speaking to Reuters, both sides are working on a “de-escalation understanding.”

There have been multiple rounds of indirect talks in Oman between the US National Security Council official, Brett McGurk, and Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator, Ali Bagheri Kani.

Additionally, after months of Iran’s refusal for direct communication, the US Special Envoy for Iran met with Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations.

Negotiations took place between Iran and Qatar last week regarding the enhancement of banking cooperation. This comes after the US released $2.7 billion of frozen Iranian assets in Iraq.

Regarding the possibility of direct negotiations with the US, Shahriar Heydari, a member of the Iranian Parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, stated that such talks are predicated on whether Washington demonstrates goodwill.

“If the US shows goodwill and regrets its past actions and behaviors towards the government and the people, in that case, we can negotiate directly with the US,” Heydari told an Iranian news website.

Last week, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei stated that it is possible to reach agreements on Iran's nuclear activities without compromising the country’s infrastructure. He urged officials involved in the nuclear program to “not succumb to excessive and misguided demands” from the International Atomic Energy Agency, emphasizing cooperation with the UN agency through “safeguarded” agreements.

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North Korean Leader Says Past Diplomacy Only Confirmed US Hostility

21 November 2024, North Korea, Pyongyang: A photo released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on 22 November 2024 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (C) responding to cheers during a photo session with the North Korean Army's battalion commanders and political instructors. Photo: -/kcna/dpa
21 November 2024, North Korea, Pyongyang: A photo released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on 22 November 2024 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (C) responding to cheers during a photo session with the North Korean Army's battalion commanders and political instructors. Photo: -/kcna/dpa
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North Korean Leader Says Past Diplomacy Only Confirmed US Hostility

21 November 2024, North Korea, Pyongyang: A photo released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on 22 November 2024 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (C) responding to cheers during a photo session with the North Korean Army's battalion commanders and political instructors. Photo: -/kcna/dpa
21 November 2024, North Korea, Pyongyang: A photo released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on 22 November 2024 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (C) responding to cheers during a photo session with the North Korean Army's battalion commanders and political instructors. Photo: -/kcna/dpa

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said his past negotiations with the United States only confirmed Washington’s “unchangeable” hostility toward his country and described his nuclear buildup as the only way to counter external threats, state media said Friday.
Kim spoke Thursday at a defense exhibition where North Korea displayed some of its most powerful weapons, including intercontinental ballistic missiles designed to target the US mainland as well as artillery systems and drones, according to text and photos published by the North’s Korean Central News Agency. While meeting with army officers last week, he had pledged a “limitless” expansion of his military nuclear program.
Kim has yet to comment directly on Donald Trump's reelection as US president. During his first term, Trump held three highly orchestrated summits with the North Korean leader in 2018 and 2019, before the diplomacy collapsed over disagreements on exchanging a relaxation of US-led economic sanctions with North Korean steps to wind down its nuclear program.
During the speech at the exhibition, Kim touched on the failed summits without naming Trump.
“We have already gone as far as possible with the United States with negotiations, and what we ended up confirming was not a superpower’s will for coexistence, but a thorough position based on force and an unchangeable invasive and hostile policy” toward North Korea, Kim said.
Kim accused the United States of raising military pressure on North Korea by strengthening military cooperation with regional allies and increasing the deployment of “strategic strike means,” apparently a reference to major US assets such as long-range bombers, submarines and aircraft carriers. He called for accelerated efforts to advance the capabilities of his nuclear-armed military, saying the country’s only guarantee of security is to build up the “strongest defense power that can overwhelm the enemy.”
Kim's expanding nuclear weapons and missile programs include various weapons targeting South Korea and Japan and longer-range missiles that have demonstrated the range to reach the US mainland. Analysts say Kim’s nuclear push is aimed at eventually pressuring Washington into accepting North Korea as a nuclear power and to negotiate economic and security concessions from a position of strength.
In recent months, the focus of Kim’s foreign policy has been Russia as he tries to strengthen his international footing, embracing the idea of a “new Cold War” and aligning with President Vladimir Putin’s broader conflicts with the West.
Washington and its allies have accused North Korea of providing Russia with thousands of troops and large amounts of military equipment, including artillery systems and missiles, to help sustain its fighting in Ukraine. Kim in return could possibly receive badly needed economic aid and Russian technology transfers that would possibly enhance the threat posed by his nuclear-armed military, according to outside officials and experts.
North Korea also held a major arms exhibition in July last year and invited a Russian delegation led by then-Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, who was given a personal tour by Kim that included a briefing on the North's expanding military capabilities, in what outside critics likened to a sales pitch. That event came weeks before Kim traveled to the Russia for a summit with Putin, which sped up military cooperation between the countries. North Korean state media photos of this year's exhibition showed various artillery systems, including what appeared to be 240mm multiple rocket launch systems that South Korea's spy agency believes were part of the North Korean weaponry recently sent to Russia. When asked whether North Korea was showcasing the systems it intends to export to Russia, Koo Byoungsam, a spokesperson for South Korea’s Unification Ministry, said he wouldn't make “premature judgments” but said the government was “monitoring related trends." “We stress once again that arms transfers between Russia and North Korea are a clear violation of UN Security Council resolutions and an illegal act that undermines the norms of the international community,” he said.
Even with Trump returning to the White House, a quick resumption of diplomacy with North Korea could be unlikely, according to some experts. North Korea's deepening alliance with Russia and the weakening enforcement of sanctions against it are presenting further challenges in the push to resolve the nuclear standoff with Kim, who also has a greater perception of his bargaining power following the rapid expansion of his arsenal in recent years.