Update: Iranian official denies Leader's aide may join Oman talks
An Iranian official denied that Ali Akbar Velayati may join nuclear talks between the United States and Iran in Oman this week.
Updated: An Iranian official on Sunday (Nov. 9) denied that a top adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei may join talks in Oman between the United States and Iran in the coming days, as Al-Monitor reported Saturday.
Ali Akbar Velayati, longtime foreign policy adviser to Khamenei and a former Iranian foreign minister, may join the talks between US Secretary of State John Kerry, Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and European Union negotiator Catherine Ashton, in a signal that the Supreme Leader may be preparing to sign off on a deal, sources told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity Saturday (Nov. 8).
But an Iranian official reached early Sunday Nov. 8 told Al-Monitor that Velayati was not attending the Oman talks. Velayati himself was cited Sunday saying he did not travel to Oman, Iran's ISNA and Tasnim news agencies reported. Velayati was scheduled to stay in Iran and host Kuwaiti scholars in Tehran, a journalist with Iran's Entekhab news site said.
Velayati, speaking at a meeting with Norway's foreign minister in Tehran last week (Nov. 2), praised the role of Oman in hosting the upcoming trilateral talks, and said Iran seeks to reach a final nuclear deal quickly.
