Cheney in talks with Oman ruler over Iran

US Vice President Dick Cheney met Oman's Sultan Qaboos on Wednesday for talks expected to focus on US efforts to contain Iran's influence and curb its nuclear programme.

The two leaders reviewed "cooperation between Oman and the United States in all fields in light of the close relations" between their countries, the sultanate's state news agency ONA said without giving details.

Cheney's stop in Muscat, which has good ties with both Iran and Washington, came after a surprise Iraq visit to kick off a nine-day tour of the Middle East and Turkey, with regional peace efforts and Afghanistan high on the agenda.

As well as Iran, which faces Oman across the Straits of Hormuz entrance to the oil-rich Gulf, the broader US-led "war on terrorism" was also expected to figure in the Qaboos meeting, a senior aide said in Washington.

"They sit in kind of the eye of the storm of that part of the world, and are both observers and participants in all the major issues there," the adviser said in a pre-trip briefing held on condition that he not be named.

Cheney was expected to thank the sultan for his "quiet but robust support" on Iraq, Afghanistan, and the broader US-led war on terrorism launched after the September 11, 2001 attacks, the aide said.

But he stressed that Iran "has got to be very high" on the agenda for the talks, which come eight months before US presidential elections.

"The Omanis, like a lot of other people, are concerned by the escalating tensions between the rest of the world community and Iran, by some of Iran's activities, particularly in the nuclear field, but outside its borders as well," the official said.

Oman, an ally of the US, has also consistently maintained good relations with Tehran, and Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visited Muscat last May.

Muscat is anxious to avoid an increase in tension in the Gulf over Tehran's refusal to halt its uranium enrichment programme, resulting in a tense standoff with the West, including three sets of UN sanctions.

Washington insists it seeks a diplomatic solution to the standoff, but Cheney warned in 2005 that Israel might decide to use military force against Iran's nuclear programme.

US President George W. Bush claims that Iran is racing to develop nuclear weapons, something denied by Tehran, which has signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Iran says its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes and that it has the right to pursue it.

Ahead of talks with the sultan, Cheney took a break from the strains of Middle East diplomacy and headed into waters off Oman's coast for some deep-sea fishing aboard a borrowed 60-foot royal yacht.

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