High-ranking Biden administration officials held talks with Iranian officials in Oman this week to discuss how to avoid escalating regional attacks, Axios reported.
Brett McGurk, President Joe Biden's top Middle East adviser and Abram Paley, the acting U.S. envoy for Iran, held direct talks with Iran for the first time since January. The discussions come almost a month after Iran attacked Israel for the first time from Iranian soil.
On April 13, Iran launched a wave of drone and missile attacks in retaliation for the killing of Brig. Gen. Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a top Iranian Quds Force general in charge of Iran's military operations in Lebanon and Syria, along with five other Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps officials.
In response, Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, vowed revenge and marked the first time Iran has ever attacked Israel directly without the use of proxies.
In coordination with the United States and regional partners, Israel had a 99% success rate in intercepting Iranian drones and missiles. Several days later, Israel launched a precision strike on an S-300 air defense system at an Iranian air force base.
News of the talks comes the same week that Iranian-backed Hezbollah stuck a military post in northern Israel with a drone, signaling the militia group has acquired more advanced weaponry. The attack wounded three Israeli soldiers, one critically.
As the November election nears, the Biden administration is looking for ways to avoid a larger regional conflict. Iran has influence over militia groups in Syria, Iraq, and Lebanon that have attacked both Israel and U.S. interests in the Red Sea. McGurk and Paley arrived Tuesday in Oman to meet with Omani mediators, sources told the outlet.
James Morley III ✉
James Morley III is a writer with more than two decades of experience in entertainment, travel, technology, and science and nature.
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