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Cheney arrives in Oman for talks on Gulf security
 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney arrived in Oman on Sunday for talks on Gulf security, media reports reaching here said. Shortly after his arrival, Cheney went into talks with Omani Foreign Minister Yousuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah, an Omani official was quoted as saying. The two sides would discuss regional security issues, including the Iranian nuclear issue, the official said, without giving more details. Meanwhile, the U.S. Embassy declined to talk about details of the visit, especially the purpose of Cheney's visit to Oman, a U.S. ally for decades. Cheney's visit came after he ended a visit to Australia and made a brief refueling stop in Singapore. During his visit to Australia on Saturday, Cheney refused to rule out the possibility of taking military action against Iran, saying that "all options are still on the table" over Tehran's nuclear programs. He said that Washington was still working with other countries to persuade Tehran to abandon its nuclear programs and preferred to achieve the goal peacefully. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Mohamed ElBaradei issued a report on Thursday, saying that Iran had refused to suspend its uranium enrichment, defying a UN Security Council deadline that expired on Wednesday. As an isolated country on the southeastern corner of the Arabian peninsula, Oman sits across the strategically important Strait of Hormuz from Iran, through which two-fifths of the world's oil passes. Posted by: Fred 2007-02-26 |
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