Middle East peace held back by US insistence that Iran is a threat, Oman’s foreign minister says

According to The Guardian, Albusaidi said that "perhaps the most damaging of the priorities imposed on the region from the outside has been the requirement that Iran be excluded."[1] He added that Iran had been "positioned as the threat against which regional security had to be organised"[1], the paper reported.Gulf News, citing Oman's Foreign Ministry, reports that Albusaidi urged a Gulf security framework including Iran and a non-aggression pact among the region's eight states[2].The Guardian says Albusaidi also indirectly challenged Donald Trump's case for a further attack on Iran[1]. He said he believed the US-Iran talks in February, which Oman mediated, were "making significant progress, and that an agreement was within reach."[1] However, the plan is on hold until the US and Iran lift their respective blockades of the waterway[1].According to The Guardian, the idea of a pact with Iran will be resisted in large parts of the Middle East[1] because of the economic damage Tehran has done to the region, either directly or through groups such as the Houthis.AFP, as carried by Gulf News, reports that UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said it was "essential to stop any escalation" in the Middle East[2].