WASHINGTON—U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Near East, South Asia, Central Asia and Counterterrorism, on Tuesday met with Majid Takht-Ravanchi, Iran’s Ambassador to the United Nations. The two discussed the Iran nuclear deal, the war in Yemen, and the release of American prisoners in Iran. Murphy released the following statement after their meeting:
“I made the case directly to Iran’s Ambassador to the United Nations Majid Takht-Ravanchi today for the Iranians to engage with seriousness and urgency in nuclear negotiations, pressure the Houthis to end the war in Yemen, urge Hamas to accept a ceasefire and end rocket attacks into Israel, and release Morad Tahbaz from prison,” said Murphy.
Earlier this month, Murphy’s traveled to Qatar, Oman and Jordan to meet with foreign leaders and senior officials including Jordan’s King Abdullah II, Omani Foreign Minister Al-Busaidi, Qatari Foreign Minister Al-Thani, United Nations Special Envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths and several European ambassadors to Yemen to discuss the humanitarian crisis and urgent need to find a political solution to end the war in Yemen. Murphy joined senior members of the Biden Administration – including Yemen Special Envoy Tim Lenderking, U.S. State Department Counselor Derek Chollet and National Security Council Coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa Brett McGurk – during parts of the trip and discussed the reform agenda in the Middle East; prospects for preserving the two-state solution between Israelis and Palestinians; instability in Syria and the refugee crisis; and the need to restart the Iran nuclear deal. Murphy discussed his travels in a press call and also laid out the importance of restating the Iran nuclear deal in a speech at the Middle East Institute.
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