Omani Foreign Minister Yousef Alawi and his Iranian Counterpart Manouchehr Mottaki held official talks here on Wednesday, focusing on bilateral relations and a number of regional and international issues of common concern. Mottaki arrived in Muscat on the third leg of a Gulf tour after discussing the situation in Iraq and other regional issues with Bahrain's King Hamad. In Bahrain, Mottaki and King Hamad examined "regional developments as well as the situation in Iraq and the Palestinian territories," the official BNA news agency reported. Mottaki had also discussed Iraq and other regional developments with Bahraini Prime Minister Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman al-Khalifa after arriving in Manama from Kuwait, where Tehran's nuclear program was also on the agenda. "Stability and calm in Iraq helps stability in the region ... Iran backs attempts and initiatives by states neighbouring Iraq" to help restore security in the war-torn country, Mottaki said after talks with his Kuwaiti counterpart Sheikh Mohammed al-Sabah. Mottaki told a press conference in Kuwait that the nuclear issue was on the agenda of his Gulf tour. On Monday, Mottaki held talks with Kuwaiti Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmed al-Sabah and parliament speaker Jassem al-Khorafi.
