Iran says ‘no grounds’ for indirect talks with US Araghchi’s visit to Muscat is the latest in a series of diplomatic trips in the region TEHRAN: Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met a senior official from Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi movement in Muscat on Monday, according to his office, the latest stop in a wide-ranging diplomatic tour of the region. The Iranian foreign ministry released pictures of the talks with Mohammed Abdelsalam in the Omani capital as Aranghchi consults with allies and other Middle East powers following Israel’s vow to retaliate against an Iranian missile attack. Araghchi held a “meeting and discussion with Mohammad Abdelsalam, the spokesman and chief negotiator of the Yemen National Salvation Government,” read the photo caption, referring to the Houthi administration. The Houthi-run Al Masirah television also reported the meeting without providing any details on the talks. Araghchi also met with his Omani counterpart Badr Albusaidi to discuss developments in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip where Israel is fighting Hezbollah and Palestinian Islamist group Hamas. They “urged an immediate end to the Israeli regime’s genocide and aggression in Gaza and Lebanon,” said Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei. Oman’s foreign ministry said the two officials agreed on “harnessing diplomacy as an essential tool for resolving disputes and conflicts” in the region. During the visit, the foreign minister said Iran sees “no grounds” for indirect talks with the United States via Oman, citing the conditions in the war-torn region. “Currently we don’t see any ground for these talks, until we can get past the current crisis,” Araghchi told reporters in Muscat, adding the process had been halted “due to the specific conditions of the region.” Iran fired 200 missiles at Israel on October 1 in what it said was retaliation for the killing of Tehran-aligned militant leaders in the region and a general in Iran’s Revolutionary Guards. Israel has since vowed to respond. Yemen’s Houthis, along with the Palestinian Hamas group in Gaza and Hezbollah, are part of Iran’s “axis of resistance” of militant groups arrayed against Israel. Araghchi’s visit to Muscat came after a trip to Baghdad. Last week, he visited Qatar and Saudi Arabia where talks mainly revolved around establishing a ceasefire in Lebanon and Gaza as well as ways to contain the conflict from spreading across the region. On Sunday, Araghchi reiterated that Iran was “fully prepared for a war situation... but we do not want war, we want peace.”