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KHAN YUNIS, PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES — More than three weeks after an Israeli military ambush killed 15 of her husband's fellow medics, Nafiza al-Nsasrah says she still has no idea where he is being held.

"We have no information, no idea which prison he's in or where he is being held, or what his health condition is," Nsasrah told AFP, showing a photograph of her husband Asaad in his medic's uniform at the wheel of an ambulance.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said Sunday that Nsasrah was in Israeli custody after being "forcibly abducted" when Israeli soldiers opened fire on a convoy of ambulances on March 23.

In the early hours of that day, Israeli soldiers ambushed a convoy of ambulances and a firetruck near the southern city of Rafah as the crew responded to emergency calls.

Eight staff members from the Red Crescent, six from the Gaza civil defence agency and one employee of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees were killed in the attack, according to the UN humanitarian office OCHA.

Their bodies were found buried in the sand near the site of the shooting in the Tal al-Sultan neighbourhood of Rafah, in what OCHA described as a mass grave.

One member of the crew survived the attack. He was initially detained by troops but subsequently released.

The Palestinian Red Crescent was able to recover footage of part of the attack filmed by one of the medics on his mobile phone before he was gunned down.

An Israeli military official told journalists that the soldiers who fired at the ambulances "thought they had an encounter with terrorists".

The video footage contradicts that account as the ambulances had their lights blinking when they came under attack.

 'Intent to kill' 

"At the time of the incident, we had no idea what had happened," Nsasrah said in the plastic-sheet shelter in the southern city of Khan Yunis which she and her family have called home for nearly a year.

Her husband's body was not among those found in the mass grave near Rafah.

"We heard some ambulances had been surrounded (by the Israeli army), so we called (the Red Crescent) because (my husband) was late to return from his shift," the 43-year-old said.

"They told us that he was surrounded but didn't know what had happened exactly."

Afterwards, the Red Crescent told her that he had been detained by Israeli forces.

"We felt a little relieved but not completely because detainees often face torture. So we are still afraid," Nsasrah said, her voice drowned out by the persistent buzz of an Israeli surveillance drone overhead.

When the Red Crescent announced he had been detained, AFP reached out to the Israeli military for confirmation.

The military responded by referring AFP to an earlier statement noting that armed forces chief Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir had ordered a thorough investigation into the attack.

The March 23 killings occurred days into a renewed Israeli offensive in the Hamas-ruled territory and drew international condemnation.

The Palestinian Red Crescent has charged that Israeli soldiers shot the medics in their upper body with "intent to kill".

Nsasrah, her husband and their six children have been living under canvas in Khan Yunis since May last year.

Despite the hardship, she remains determined to get her husband back.

"I call on the international community to help us get any information on Asaad Al-Nsasrah," she said.

"I ask to obtain information about his health condition and to allow us to visit him or to help us get him released."

DOHA — Syria's new president arrived in Qatar on Tuesday, state media said, for his first official visit to the Gulf state, a key backer of the new administration after longtime ruler Bashar Al Assad's ouster.

The official Qatar News Agency reported Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani met Syria's interim President Ahmed Al Sharaa on his arrival at Doha's Hamad International Airport.

Earlier, Syria's foreign minister posted on X that he was accompanying Sharaa on his "first presidential visit to the country that has stood by Syrians from day one and has never abandoned them".

Sharaa and Shaibani's Qatar trip comes on the heels of a Sunday visit to the United Arab Emirates, where they met Emirati President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who expressed his country's support for Syria's reconstruction.

Sharaa's Islamist group Hayat Tahrir Al Sham led the rebel alliance that ousted Assad from power on December 8.

His new administration has received support from several countries including key backers Turkey and Qatar, as well as multiple Arab states.

Qatar was one of the first Arab countries to back the armed rebellion that erupted after Assad's government crushed a peaceful uprising in 2011. Unlike other Arab nations, Doha did not restore diplomatic ties with Syria under Assad.

The new authorities have engaged in a flurry of diplomatic activity since taking power, and Sharaa has visited several Arab countries as well as Turkey.

Meanwhile, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun departed Beirut on Tuesday for Doha, his office said, on his first visit to the Gulf country since his January election.

"The visit will continue until tomorrow afternoon, Wednesday, and will include a bilateral meeting between President Aoun and the Emir of Qatar, as well as expanded talks involving both the Qatari and Lebanese delegations", Aoun's presidential office said.

A day earlier, Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam met with Sharaa in Damascus in an effort to reboot ties between the two neighbours.

Beirut and Damascus have been seeking to improve relations since the overthrow of Assad, whose family dynasty exercised control over Lebanese affairs for decades and has been accused of assassinating numerous officials in Lebanon who expressed opposition to its rule.

Middle East analyst Andreas Krieg said since the fall of the Assad government, Qatar had emerged as "the most important interlocutor with the Al Sharaa government in the Arab world, at least after Turkey".

He said the gas-rich Gulf emirate was a "diplomatic force multiplier to the al-Sharaa government in Syria" and would be able to connect Syrians back to Lebanon "which is, for both countries, extremely important".

Sheikh Tamim visited Damascus in January, becoming the first head of state to visit since Assad's ouster.

Doha has pledged to support the rehabilitation of Syria's infrastructure, and in January announced an agreement to provide Syria with 200 megawatts of power, gradually increasing production.

Syrian authorities are seeking assistance including from wealthy Gulf states for reconstruction after nearly 14 years of war.

Qatar is one of the providers of financial and in-kind support to the Lebanese army and pledged support for reconstruction in February after the recent confrontation between Hezbollah and Israel.

GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories — Hamas said Monday that Israel has offered a 45-day ceasefire if it releases half of the remaining hostages held in Gaza, that the United Nations said is now in the grip of its worst humanitarian crisis since the start of the war.

A Hamas official told AFP that Israel had also demanded that the Palestinian militants disarm to secure an end to the Gaza war but that this crossed a "red line".

Egyptian mediators passed on an Israeli proposal that "includes the release of half the hostages in the first week of the agreement, an extension of the truce for at least 45 days, and the entry of aid," the official said.

Militants took 251 hostages during the October 7, 2023 attacks that set off the war. Some 58 are still held in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.

"The proposal includes the disarmament of Hamas and all Palestinian armed factions in the Gaza Strip as a condition for a permanent end to the war," the official added.

Hamas leaders were reviewing the ceasefire proposal but the official said "Hamas and the resistance factions' position is that the resistance's weapons are a red line and non-negotiable," the official said.

The official said Hamas negotiators were going to Qatar, where the group has an office and the main mediation talks with Israel have been held. Israel did not immediately comment on the Hamas statement.

"Hamas informed the mediators that it is willing to agree to any proposal that includes a permanent ceasefire, a full Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, and the entry of aid," the official said.

Earlier, the United Nation warned that Gaza's humanitarian crisis was spiralling out of control with no aid entering the territory for weeks and conditions rapidly deteriorating.

Israel, fighting in Gaza since the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks, resumed operations in the Palestinian territory in March after the collapse of a two-month old ceasefire amidst differences over the next phase.

Hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced, with Israel blocking humanitarian aid since March 2, before the truce disintegrated.

Medical supplies, fuel, water and other essentials are in short supply, the UN says.

"The humanitarian situation is now likely the worst it has been in the 18 months since the outbreak of hostilities," said the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

Aid workers had been forced "to ration and reduce deliveries to make the most of the remaining stocks," OCHA said.

At Nasser Hospital in the southern city of Khan Yunis, a doctor, Ahmed al-Farah said the medical team was working non-stop despite "a shortage in everything".

'Urgent need' 

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas and French President Emmanuel Macron called for an "urgent" ceasefire in Gaza.

In a phone call, Macron and Abbas "emphasised the urgent need for a ceasefire, the acceleration of humanitarian aid delivery [and] the rejection of the displacement of the Palestinian people from their land", the official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.

Macron said on X that "France is fully mobilised" to free hostages and halt the fighting. He also advocated "reform" of the Palestinian Authority as part of moves to let the body govern a post-war Gaza without Hamas.

Senior Hamas official Taher Al Nunu indicated that the group was willing to release all hostages in exchange for a "serious prisoner swap" and guarantees that Israel would end the war.

"The issue is not the number of captives," Nunu said, "but rather that the occupation is reneging on its commitments, blocking the implementation of the ceasefire agreement and continuing the war".

Speaking after talks with Egyptian and Qatari mediators, he insisted Hamas would not relinquish its arms.

Israeli news website Ynet reported that under a new ceasefire proposal, Hamas would release 10 living hostages in exchange for US guarantees that Israel would enter negotiations for a second phase of the ceasefire.

France hopes others follow 

The first ceasefire, which began on January 19, included multiple hostage-prisoner exchanges before it unravelled.

Israel had sought to extend the first phase, while Hamas insisted that negotiations be held for the second phase under the deal, as outlined by former US president Joe Biden.

Macron has announced that France could recognise a Palestinian state within months, leading to sharp criticism in Israel.

On Monday he said he hoped French recognition would "trigger" other countries to follow suit, and that countries which do not recognise Israel should do so.

Israel insists recognition moves are premature.

"President Macron is gravely mistaken in continuing to promote the idea of a Palestinian state in the heart of our land -- a state whose sole aspiration is the destruction of Israel," Netanyahu said in a statement.

GENEVA — Israeli forces have killed dozens of civilians in Lebanon since a ceasefire took effect late last year, including a number of women and children, the United Nations said Tuesday.

The UN rights office reported that Israeli military operations had killed and injured civilians in Lebanon in the four months since the fragile truce between Israel and Hezbollah on November 27.

"According to our initial review, at least 71 civilians have been killed by Israeli forces in Lebanon since the ceasefire came into effect," rights office spokesman Thameen Kheetan told reporters in Geneva.

"Among the victims are 14 women and 9 children," he said, urging that "the violence must stop immediately".

The delicate truce between Israel and Hezbollah came after more than a year of hostilities initiated by the Iran-backed militant group over the Gaza conflict, including two months of all-out war when Israel also sent in ground troops.

But months after the agreed end to fighting, Kheetan warned that people in Lebanon "people remain gripped by fear, and over 92,000 are still displaced from their homes".

The rights office noted that Israeli strikes on Lebanese territory had hit civilian infrastructure since the ceasefire, including residential buildings, medical facilities, roads and at least one cafe.

The southern suburbs of Beirut were also hit in early April for the first time since the ceasefire took effect, in two different incidents, Kheetan said, adding that the area targeted was near two schools.

"A strike on a residential building in the early morning of April 1 killed two civilians and caused significant damage to neighbouring buildings," he said.

Two days later, "Israeli airstrikes hit a newly established medical centre run by the Islamic Health Society in Naqoura in southern Lebanon, completely destroying the centre and damaging two ambulances", he said.

He added that "multiple Israeli airstrikes on several towns in the south of Lebanon reportedly killed at least six people" between April 4 and 8.

Israel had also faced attacks since the truce took effect, Kheetan said.

Since last November, at least five rockets, two mortars and a drone were launched from Lebanon towards northern Israel, he said, citing figures from the Israeli army, adding that "tens of thousands of Israelis are still reportedly displaced from the north".

Kheetan demanded that all parties to the conflict "respect international humanitarian law, including the principles of distinction, proportionality and precaution".

"There must be prompt, independent and impartial investigations into all allegations of serious violations of international humanitarian law, and those found responsible must be held to account."

KHARTOUM — An island in the middle of Sudan's capital that used to draw crowds to its Nile River farms now stands nearly deserted after two years of war, its homes ransacked and once-lush fields left fallow.

Nestled at the confluence of the Blue and White Nile rivers, Tuti Island has been devastated by two years of war between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), with residents subjected to violence and looting.

When fighting broke out on April 15, 2023, RSF fighters swiftly captured the crescent-shaped island, forcing residents to flee in panic.

"They fled in feluccas [sailing boats], leaving everything behind," said Youssef al-Naim, 67, one of the handful of residents who never left.

The war has devastated the nation, killed tens of thousands and uprooted 13 million, according to the United Nations.

At the beginning of the war, the RSF had gained control of wide swathes of the capital, outflanking the army in the north and south, before the tides turned in the army's favour earlier this year.

The island, accessible only by a single suspension bridge, was cut off and besieged by the RSF since the war began.

Residents were deprived of food, electricity and safe drinking water, even before fighters descended on the island.

Lifeless 

"We used to carry water from a well for washing and drink from the Nile," Naim said.

"Sometimes we couldn't reach the river and drank the well water, which made people sick."

Those able to pay for passage, fled in sailing boats and then the back of lorries, headed east.

"Every day, 10 or more people would leave," Naim recalled as he sat on a tattered fabric chair.

Tuti island was once known as "Khartoum's garden" for its verdant fields of beans, arugula and fruit trees that supplied much of the capital's produce.

Now, the eight-square-kilometre floating patch, overlooking Khartoum, Omdurman and Bahri [Khartoum North] which form the greater Sudanese capital, appears nearly lifeless.

"For nearly two years, I haven't seen a single tomato," Naim said.

An AFP team that visited the island after the army retook it in March saw signs of the sudden exodus.

Doors hung ajar, children's toys were scattered across the ground and shredded fabric fluttered through the ruins.

Scars of war 

On March 22, Sudan's army regained control of the Tuti bridge as part of its broader offensive to retake Khartoum. Within a week, Burhan declared the capital "free".

But the scars of two years of war run deep, with RSF fighters accused of subjecting civilians to indiscriminate violence.

"They beat children, the elderly and even pregnant women," Abdel Hai Hamza, another resident, told AFP.

Witnesses also described systematic looting, with fighters raiding homes in search of gold jewellery, cash and weapons.

"They had to leave houses with something," added Hamza, 33.

The conflict has decimated Sudan's infrastructure, crumbled an already weak economy and pushed millions to the brink of mass starvation.

In Khartoum alone, at least 3.5 million have been displaced while 100,000 are suffering from famine-levels of hunger, according to the UN.

Both the army and the RSF have been accused of war crimes, but the paramilitary in particular has become notorious for allegedly committing systematic sexual violence, ethnic cleansing and massive looting.

Now, with the bridge to Tuti reopened and RSF fighters pushed out, some residents are making their way back, determined to rebuild their lives.

"Residents are trying to restore electricity," after cables were cut by the RSF, said Sherif Al Tayeb, a former resident of Tuti who now lives abroad and still has close friends among the island's residents.

Despite the devastation, small groups of civilians clean the streets with shovels and buckets, while dump trucks haul away the remnants of their shattered lives.

PARIS — French President Emmanuel Macron Monday urged "reform" of the Palestinian Authority as part of a plan for the West Bank-based body to govern a post-war Gaza without the Islamist movement Hamas.

France is among European nations to have backed a plan for Gaza to return to the control of the Ramallah-based authority after nearly two decades of Hamas rule if a ceasefire deal is reached to end the war with Israel.

Israel resumed its deadly air strikes in Gaza on March 18 after cutting off aid to the Palestinian coastal territory, ending a two-month ceasefire with Hamas.

Macron called his Palestinian counterpart Mahmud Abbas on Monday after last week announcing France could take the unprecedented step of recognising a Palestinian state in coming months, sparking ire from Israel.

"France is fully mobilised to obtain the return of all hostages, the return of a lasting ceasefire and immediate access for humanitarian aid into Gaza," Macron said on X after the phone call.

"It is essential to set a framework for the day after: disarm and sideline Hamas, define credible governance and reform the Palestinian Authority," he said.

"This should allow progress towards a two-state political solution, with a view to the peace conference in June, in the service of peace and security for all."

Macron has said France could recognise a Palestinian state during a United Nations conference in New York in June.

Palestinian news agency WAFA reported that Abbas and Macron had "emphasised the urgent need for a ceasefire, the acceleration of humanitarian aid delivery, the rejection of the displacement of the Palestinian people from their land".

France has thrown its support behind a plan put forward by Arab nations, including Jordan, to rebuild Gaza without evicting its 2.4 million Palestinian residents.

The Arab League-endorsed plan was put forward to counter a US proposal to send the war-ravaged territory's inhabitants elsewhere.

'Screw you' 

Hamas has governed the Gaza Strip since 2007, when it seized control from the Palestinian Authority after being blocked from exercising real power despite winning a parliamentary election the previous year.

Both France and the United States under Joe Biden have pressed for the Palestinian Authority, which has limited autonomy in parts of the West Bank, to root out corruption and bring in new faces in the hope it could take charge of Gaza.

The Ramallah-based administration, led by 89-year-old Abbas, has been hamstrung by Israel's decades-old occupation of the West Bank and the Palestinian president's own unpopularity.

Paris has long championed a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which would see both a Palestinian and Israeli state live peacefully side by side.

A formal recognition of a Palestinian state would, however, mark a major policy switch and risk antagonising Israel, which insists such moves by foreign states are premature.

But Macron late Monday reaffirmed his stance, saying he hoped French recognition of a Palestinian state would encourage others to do the same, and that countries who do not recognise Israel should do so.

Macron's remarks last week sparked a wave of criticism from right-wing groups in France and from Netanyahu and his son Yair Netanyahu.

"Screw you!" Yair Netanyahu wrote in English on X late on Saturday, while his father Benjamin Netanyahu himself dismissed Macron's remarks.

The war in Gaza broke out after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023. Hamas operatives also took 251 hostages, 58 of whom are still held in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.

Israeli's retaliatory offensive in Gaza has killed more than 50,900 people, mostly civilians, according to the health ministry in the territory whose figures the United Nations deems reliable.

RAMALLAH, Palestinian Territories — The Palestinian foreign ministry on Monday condemned the Israeli prime minister's criticism of French President Emmanuel Macron for announcing that Paris intended to recognise a Palestinian state within months.

"The ministry strongly condemns the unjustified attack and offensive remarks made by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his son against President Emmanuel Macron," the Ramallah-based ministry said in a statement.

"The ministry considers these statements a clear acknowledgement of Netanyahu's ongoing hostility to peace based on the two-state solution, as well as a blatant rejection of international legitimacy and a persistent preference for violence and military solutions over the political path."

Macron, in an interview with France 5 broadcast on Wednesday, said that France could take the step during a United Nations conference in New York in June, adding he hoped it would trigger a reciprocal recognition of Israel by Arab countries.

"We must move towards recognition, and we will do so in the coming months," Macron said.

"I will do it because I believe that at some point it will be right and because I also want to participate in a collective dynamic, which must also allow all those who defend Palestine to recognise Israel in turn, which many of them do not do."

His remarks sparked a wave of criticism from right-wing groups in France and from Netanyahu and his son Yair Netanyahu.

"Screw you!" Yair Netanyahu wrote in English on X late on Saturday, while Netanyahu himself dismissed Macron's remarks.

"President Macron is gravely mistaken in continuing to promote the idea of a Palestinian state in the heart of our land -- a state whose sole aspiration is the destruction of Israel," Netanyahu said in a statement.

"To this day, not a single figure in Hamas or the Palestinian Authority has condemned the horrors of the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust," he said, referring to the October 7, 2023, attack led by Hamas on Israel.

He described it as "a silence that reveals their true attitude toward the Jewish state.

"We will not endanger our existence over illusions detached from reality, and we will not accept moral lectures about establishing a Palestinian state that would threaten Israel's survival -- especially not from those who oppose granting independence to Corsica, New Caledonia, French Guiana, and other territories, whose independence would pose no threat to France whatsoever."

PARIS — Fresh tensions flared between France and Algeria on Monday as the French foreign minister said the latterhad ordered 12 French officials to leave in 48 hours.

The announcement was linked to the arrest of three Algerian nationals in France, Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said.

For decades, ties between France and Algeria have gone through diplomatic upheavals, and Monday's announcement comes at a delicate time in relations and underscores the difficulties in repairing ties.

"I am asking Algerian authorities to abandon these expulsion measures," Barrot said, adding: "If the decision to send back our officials is maintained, we will have no other choice but to respond immediately."

The 12 include some members of the French interior ministry, a diplomatic source told AFP.

Despite the new tensions, French diplomatic sources said that "contacts are being maintained" and that Paris would like to "return to an easing of tensions" with Algeria.

Earlier this month, Barrot visited Algeria on a fence-mending trip after months of tensions that had brought the two countries to the brink of a diplomatic breakdown.

After a meeting with Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebbouneduring the visit, Barrot said both countries wanted to "rebuild a partnership of equals".

On Friday, French prosecutors indicted three Algerians, including a consular official, on suspicion of involvement in the 2024 abduction of an opponent of the Algerian regime, Amir Boukhors, in a Paris suburb.

The men, who are also being prosecuted for "terrorist" conspiracy, were placed in pre-trial detention.

'Rotten arguments' 

The indictment comes at a sensitive time between the two countries, with Algiers claiming the move was aimed at scuppering recent attempts to repair ties.

Boukhors, an influencer known by the nickname "Amir DZ", has more than a million followers on TikTok.

He has been in France since 2016 and was granted political asylum in 2023. He was abducted in April 2024 and released the following day, according to his lawyer.

Algiers is demanding the influencer's return to face trial, having issued nine international arrest warrants against him on accusations of fraud and "terror" offences. France has refused to extradite him.

On Saturday, the Algerian foreign ministry denounced "rotten arguments" by the French interior ministry and criticised an "unacceptable judicial conspiracy", referring to the arrest of its consular agent.

Boukhors, 41, has been the target of two attacks, in 2022 and in 2024 on the day of his abduction in the southern suburbs of Paris, according to his lawyer Eric Plouvier.

The Algerian foreign ministry also warned that the incident would cause "great damage to Algerian-French relations".

Relations between Paris and Algiers came under strain last year when France recognised Moroccan sovereignty over the disputed Western Sahara, where Algeria has long backed the Polisario Front.

Relations soured further when Algeria arrested the French-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal in November on national security charges, after he told a French far-right media outlet that Morocco's territory was truncated in favour of Algeria during French colonial rule.

In March, an Algerian court sentenced him to five years in jail.

The latest spike in tensions sparked criticism from right-wing politicians in France.

"Brilliant results of Emmanuel Macron's strategy of appeasement," Jordan Bardella, head of the far-right National Rally party, said on X, denouncing what he called Barrot's"prostrations" in Algeria.

LUXEMBOURG/TEHRAN — The next round of indirect talks between the United States and Iran over Tehran's nuclear programme will be held in Rome, the Dutch foreign minister and a second diplomatic source said Monday.

The talks will take place in the Italian capital, Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp said at an EU meeting. Two diplomats based in Rome confirmed the location and said the talks would take place on Saturday, April 19.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff held a first round of talks on Saturday in Oman, marking the highest-level Iran-US nuclear negotiations since the collapse of a 2015 accord.

Iran's foreign ministry said Sunday the talks slated for next weekend would remain "indirect" with Omani mediation, and be focused solely on the nuclear issue and lifting of sanction.

Donald Trump pulled out of the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers in 2018, during his first term as US president.

Saturday's negotiations came weeks after Trump sent a letter to Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei urging nuclear talks while warning of possible military action if Iran refuses.

Iran's foreign minister is to visit ally Russia this week to discuss nuclear negotiations with the United States, ahead of a new round of talks between the foes planned for Rome.

On Saturday, Abbas Araghchi held talks with US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff in Oman, the highest-level negotiations since the collapse of a 2015 nuclear accord.

Trump, who withdrew from the accord, has thrown Iran back into the spotlight since his return to the White House in January.

In March, he sent a letter to Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, calling for nuclear talks while warning of possible military action if Tehran refused.

Western countries, including the United States, have long suspected Iran of pursuing nuclear weapons, an allegation Tehran has consistently denied, maintaining that its programme was solely for peaceful purposes.

"Dr Araghchi will travel to Moscow at the end of the week," said foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei, adding that the trip was pre-planned and would be "an opportunity to discuss the latest developments related to the Muscat talks."

Russia's foreign ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, later confirmed the visit saying Araghchi would meet his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov and other officials.

Iran and the United States separately described Saturday's discussions with the US as "constructive".