U.S. State Department Spokesperson Does Not Deny 'Continued Message Exchange' with the Islamic Republic

Matthew Miller, spokesperson for the U.S. State Department, did not confirm recent statements by Ali Bagheri Kani, head of the Islamic Republic's Foreign Ministry, regarding contacts between Tehran and Washington through Oman during a press conference on Monday, June 4, in Washington. However, he also did not deny it. Earlier on Monday, during a press conference at the Islamic Republic's embassy in Beirut, Lebanon's capital, Ali Bagheri Kani was asked about the interaction between the Islamic Republic and the United States through Oman, to which he responded, 'Our negotiations have always continued... they have never stopped.' In response to whether he confirms this statement, Matthew Miller added, 'Whenever our interests require, there are ways to convey our message to Iran, but I neither confirm this statement nor have a summary of any message exchange to provide.' Questions regarding this matter stem from a report by the British newspaper Financial Times in mid-March when Hossein Amir-Abdollahian was the Foreign Minister, which claimed that Bagheri, as his political deputy, had spoken with U.S. officials in Oman on behalf of the Islamic Republic. Following the death of Amir-Abdollahian in a helicopter crash involving Ibrahim Raisi on May 20, Bagheri Kani became the head of the Islamic Republic's Foreign Ministry. He, on his first foreign trip in this position to Lebanon, stated that discussions with Western parties regarding the nuclear program are ongoing. Simultaneously on Monday, Rafael Grossi, Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), announced during a press conference in Vienna that he had contacted Bagheri Kani and that discussions to resolve issues would continue. This comes as Britain, Germany, and France, three European allies of the U.S. in the JCPOA, officially presented a draft resolution regarding the Islamic Republic's nuclear activities to the IAEA Board of Governors on Monday. Bagheri Kani was the head of the Islamic Republic's delegation in the negotiations two years ago in Vienna for the revival of the JCPOA, having succeeded Abbas Araqchi, the political deputy of the Foreign Ministry, with the coming to power of Raisi's government. Gita Arian, a senior reporter for the Persian section of Voice of America, has mainly focused on foreign policy news. She began her journalism career in 1987 with work in radio and joined Voice of America in 2004.