Speaking at a Baghdad news conference on Sunday 26 May with his Iraqi counterpart Mohammed al-Hakim, FM Zarif stated that Iran wanted to build balanced relations with its Gulf Arab neighbours and had proposed signing a non-aggression pact with them. He also stressed that Iran would defend itself against any military or economic aggression, calling on European states to do more to preserve the nuclear agreement Tehran had signed. Iraqi FM offered his services to act as an intermediary between Tehran and Washington. Hakim expressed that Baghdad didn’t believe an “economic blockade” would be fruitful, in reference to US sanctions. Iran also received the backing of Oman during Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi’s visit to Muscat, where he discussed about “regional developments” with his Omani counterpart Yousuf bin Alawi.