US asked Iran to get Houthis to stop Red Sea attacks - report

• Published date: 14 March 2024
• Author: JERUSALEM POST STAFF
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

According to the report, the talks took place in Oman and also addressed Iran's nuclear program. The US delegation in the talks was led by the White House's Middle East adviser Brett McGurk and Iran envoy Abram Paley. Iran sent deputy foreign minister Ali Bagheri Kani to the talks. The two sides spoke only with Omani mediators and not directly with each other

A person familiar with the matter told the Financial Times that US officials see the indirect channel of communications as "a method for raising the full range of threats emanating from Iran," including conveying "what they need to do in order to prevent a wider conflict, as they claim to want."

A second round of talks was supposed to be held in February but was delayed due to attempts to broker a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

US has been working behind the scenes to pressure Iran on Houthis

While the talks were the first public discussions between Iran and the US since September, the US has been working behind the scenes to get Iran to pressure the Houthis to stop their attacks.

In January, US President Joe Biden told reporters that the US had "delivered [messages] privately" to Iran concerning the Houthi attacks, adding, "We're confident we're well prepared."

Additionally, in January, the Financial Times reported that the US had asked China to pressure Iran into getting the Houthis to stop attacking ships.

According to the report, the issue was raised in several discussions with Chinese officials, but there was little evidence that China had made any effort to pressure Iran on the matter. Reuters later reported that Chinese officials had asked...