Oman's sultan to meet Putin in Moscow after Iran-US talks

CAIRO (Reuters) - Oman's Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said is set to visit Moscow on Monday, days after the start of a round of Muscat-mediated nuclear talks between the U.S. and Iran.

The sultan will hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, the Kremlin said.

Iran and the U.S. started a new round of nuclear talks in Rome on Saturday to resolve their decades-long standoff over Tehran's atomic aims, under the shadow of President Donald Trump's threat to unleash military action if diplomacy fails.

Ahead of Saturday's talks, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi met his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Moscow. Following the meeting, Lavrov said Russia was "ready to assist, mediate and play any role that will be beneficial to Iran and the U.S.A."

Moscow has played a role in Iran's nuclear negotiations in the past as a veto-wielding U.N. Security Council member and signatory to an earlier deal that Trump abandoned during his first term in 2018.

The sultan's meetings in Moscow visit will focus on cooperation on regional and global issues, the Omani state news agency and the Kremlin said, without providing further detail.

The two leaders are also expected to discuss trade and economic ties, the Kremlin added.

(Reporting by by Jaidaa Taha and Muhammad Al Gebaly in Cairo and Lucy Papachristou; Editing by Andrew Heavens)