Iran top diplomat to visit Saudi, Qatar before Trump tour
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi will visit Saudi Arabia and Qatar for talks ahead of US President Trump's Middle East tour.
Araghchi aims to discuss regional concerns over nuclear negotiations and promote Arab-Iranian dialogue.
Iran warned against renaming the Persian Gulf, calling it a 'hostile' act amid sensitive US-Iran talks.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi will visit Saudi Arabia and Qatar on Saturday, his ministry said, days before US President Donald Trump begins a regional tour.
Araghchi is due to hold talks with senior Saudi officials in Riyadh before heading to Doha for a conference on Arab-Iranian dialogue, ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei said in a statement.
The Iranian top diplomat later said meetings in Saudi Arabia would cover the latest on the nuclear talks with the United States.
'We believe that the sustainability of any possible agreement depends to a large extent on taking into account the considerations and concerns of the countries of the region in the nuclear field and the common interests of Iran and them,' said Araghchi in a video carried by local media.
Trump is scheduled to visit Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates from 13 to 16 May on the first major Middle East trip of his second term.
In Riyadh, he is expected to meet leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council, a source close to the Saudi government told AFP earlier this month.
The visit follows three rounds of US-Iran negotiations over the Islamic republic's nuclear programme.
A fourth-round has been scheduled for Sunday.
The talks mark the highest-level contact between the two sides since Washington withdrew from a landmark nuclear deal with Tehran in 2018, during Trump's first term.
On Wednesday, Trump said he would decide how the United States would officially refer to the Gulf, after US media reported he might call it the Gulf of Arabia instead of the Persian Gulf.
Iran condemned the idea, with Araghchi saying any attempt to change the name would reflect 'hostile intent toward Iran and its people'.
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