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Report: US Held Indirect Talks with Iran over Red Sea Attacks

In this photo provided by the Ministry of Defence, Sea Ceptor missiles are fired from HMS Richmond shooting down two Houthi drones, Saturday, March 9, 2024 in the Red Sea. (LPhot Chris Sellars/Ministry of Defence via AP)
In this photo provided by the Ministry of Defence, Sea Ceptor missiles are fired from HMS Richmond shooting down two Houthi drones, Saturday, March 9, 2024 in the Red Sea. (LPhot Chris Sellars/Ministry of Defence via AP)
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Report: US Held Indirect Talks with Iran over Red Sea Attacks

In this photo provided by the Ministry of Defence, Sea Ceptor missiles are fired from HMS Richmond shooting down two Houthi drones, Saturday, March 9, 2024 in the Red Sea. (LPhot Chris Sellars/Ministry of Defence via AP)
In this photo provided by the Ministry of Defence, Sea Ceptor missiles are fired from HMS Richmond shooting down two Houthi drones, Saturday, March 9, 2024 in the Red Sea. (LPhot Chris Sellars/Ministry of Defence via AP)

Senior US and Iranian diplomats reportedly met secretly in Oman earlier this year as Washington tried to seek Tehran’s help in stopping attacks by Yemen’s Houthis in the Red Sea,

The top Middle East official at the White House, Brett McGurk, and the State Department’s Iran envoy, Abram Paley, headed the US delegation that met with an Iranian team, which Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani led, the Financial Times reported Wednesday.

According to the newspaper, which cited unnamed US and Iranian officials, the talks were indirect, with Omani officials relaying messages between the two camps.

During the indirect talks, American officials also sounded the alarm over Iran’s expanding nuclear program.

This first round of talks was held in January, with a second scheduled for February. But those talks never materialized as McGurk is busy trying to broker a ceasefire deal in the Gaza Strip in return for the release of Israeli hostages taken by Hamas.

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More than a Dozen Migrants Die as Boats Sink off Greece, Türkiye

A dinghy transporting dozens of refugees and migrants is pulled towards Greece's Lesbos island after being rescued by a war ship during their sea crossing between Türkiye and Greece on February 29, 2020. Aris Messinis, AFP/File picture
A dinghy transporting dozens of refugees and migrants is pulled towards Greece's Lesbos island after being rescued by a war ship during their sea crossing between Türkiye and Greece on February 29, 2020. Aris Messinis, AFP/File picture
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More than a Dozen Migrants Die as Boats Sink off Greece, Türkiye

A dinghy transporting dozens of refugees and migrants is pulled towards Greece's Lesbos island after being rescued by a war ship during their sea crossing between Türkiye and Greece on February 29, 2020. Aris Messinis, AFP/File picture
A dinghy transporting dozens of refugees and migrants is pulled towards Greece's Lesbos island after being rescued by a war ship during their sea crossing between Türkiye and Greece on February 29, 2020. Aris Messinis, AFP/File picture

A boat carrying migrants from Türkiye to a nearby Greek island sank Thursday morning, leaving at least seven people dead, including three children, Greece’s coast guard said. Turkish authorities reported what appeared to be a separate sinking in the same area, with nine people dead.
The two accidents reportedly occurred several hours apart in the narrow stretch of the Aegean Sea between the Greek island of Lesbos and the Turkish coast, with both sides unaware of the other nation’s rescue efforts.
Greece's coast guard said a dinghy carrying migrants began taking on water and 23 people were rescued and the bodies of three women, two boys, one girl and one man were recovered, The AP news reported. 
The survivors were taken to a migrant camp on the island. The search and rescue operation continued into Thursday afternoon as the exact number of people who had been on board the dinghy was unclear.
Weather in the area was reported to have been good. The nationalities of those on board were not immediately known.
Separately in Türkiye, the Canakkale governor’s office said the Turkish coast guard received an emergency call for help from a migrant boat and deployed three boats and a helicopter.
The statement said that nine bodies had been recovered and the search for one missing person continued, while 25 people were rescued.
Greece is one of the main entry points into the European Union for people fleeing conflict and poverty in the Middle East, Africa and Asia, with many making the short but often treacherous journey from the Turkish coast to nearby Greek islands in inflatable dinghies or other small boats. Many are unseaworthy, or set out in bad weather, and fatal accidents have been common.
The Greek government has cracked down with increased patrols at sea, and many smuggling rings have shifted their operations south, using larger boats to transport people from the northern coast of Africa to southern Greece.
Last year, more than 54,000 people used what has become known as the eastern Mediterranean route heading to Greece, and more than 7,700 crossed Greece's small land border with Türkiye, according to figures from the UN refugee agency. There were 125 people reported dead or missing.
By March 30, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees said there had been just over 8,000 people arriving in Greece by sea and 755 by land since the start of 2025.