Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif shakes hands with Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, as Iranian President Hassan Rouhani looks on in Tehran, Iran, June 12, 2019. Official Iranian President website/Handout via REUTERS

LONDON (Reuters) - Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said two oil tanker incidents in the Gulf of Oman on Thursday were “suspicious” and called for regional dialogue to avoid tensions.

Zarif tweeted that “reported attacks on Japan-related” oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman had taken place while Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was meeting Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei “for extensive and friendly talks”.

“Suspicious doesn’t begin to describe what likely transpired this morning,” he tweeted. “Iran’s proposed Regional Dialogue Forum is imperative.”