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Top Biden officials hold indirect talks with Iran to ease regional tensions
18 May 2024 22:04 BST
Two top Biden administration officials held indirect talks with Iranian counterparts this week in an effort to avoid escalating regional attacks, according to an Axios report.
The talks, involving President Joe Biden's Middle East adviser Brett McGurk and acting US envoy to Iran Abram Paley, marked the first known round of discussions between the US and Iran since January.
The conversations follow Iran's retaliatory attack on Israel that came several weeks after Israel bombed Iran's consulate.
In Tehran, state media quoted Iran's United Nations mission as confirming the talks, saying they were an "ongoing process".
"These talks were neither the first nor the last," the mission said in a statement.