Did Iranian deputy minister steal a luxury gold pen from Omani negotiators during US-Iran talks?

Amid all the buzz about the first round of Iran-US talks in Oman, a report has emerged, stating that a senior Iranian diplomat allegedly pocketed a luxury gold pen belonging to the Omanis during the talks in Muscat.

As per a report that appeared on Telegram in Tehran, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi pocketed a gold-plated pen from the negotiation venue. The gold fountain pen was "valued at over $14,000 due to its gold craftsmanship." After the negotiations, Gharibabadi put the pen, which was placed on the negotiation table by the Omani officials, into his pocket. The act was caught on CCTV.

The post attributed the story to a leading Omani newspaper, though the report no longer exists online. The report added that Iranian Ambassador Mousa Farhang had to apologise to the Omani Foreign Ministry via a letter and send back the pen. Farhang also reportedly demanded an apology for the newspaper's highlighting of "an unintentional error" made by Gharibabadi.

As the post went viral, Iranian Ambassador Mousa Farhang dismissed the allegations as "lies". Farhang told Iran's state-backed media houses that there were neither tables nor gold-plated pens in the arrangement of the meeting rooms. He said the fake news was being peddled by the Telegram channel affiliated with the Mojahedin-e Khalq (MEK) terrorist group. "The fabrication of lies by the hypocrite group against the soldiers of Iran's diplomatic arena is another sign of the treachery and villainy of this group and its leaders. The lying hypocrites are so stupid that they don't know that there were no tables or gold-plated pens in the negotiation hall," Farhang told a local Iranian news website.

While a report by the Iranian newspaper Hafte Sobh acknowledged the incident as an honest mistake, many state-run media outlets launched a furious campaign to deny the entire affair. 

Deputy Minister Gharibabadi is a former deputy head of Iran’s judiciary and its representative to international organisations in Vienna. He is also a fierce advocate of the regime.

Middle East