Press release: Foreign Secretary to visit Oman, Iran and United Arab Emirates
Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson arrived in Muscat on Friday 8 December on three day visit to Oman, Iran and the United Arab Emirates.
The Foreign Secretary will meet with senior figures in all three countries to discuss a range of issues including the future of the Iran nuclear deal, how to bring an end to the conflict in Yemen and ease the desperate humanitarian suffering there and the current tensions in the region.
This trip will be the first of a British Foreign Secretary to Iran since 2015 and only the third since 2003. In Iran the Foreign Secretary will meet with the Iranian Foreign Minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, to discuss the bilateral relationship and regional security issues. The Foreign Secretary will raise again concerns about a number of consular cases involving dual nationals and press for their release on humanitarian grounds.
An FCO spokesperson said:
This visit comes at a crucial time for the Gulf region and provides an opportunity to discuss a peaceful solution to the conflict in Yemen, the future of the Iran nuclear deal and the current volatility in the Middle East.
This is the first visit of the Foreign Secretary to Iran and we expect talks to cover a wide range of issues from the bilateral relationship to regional security. The government remains very concerned about all our dual nationals detained in Iran and has been doing everything it can to make progress on their cases, while approaching them in a way that we judge is in their best interests. The Foreign Secretary will urge the Iranians to release dual nationals where there are humanitarian grounds to do so.