Oman’s sultan Haitham bin Tariq Al Said arrived in Iran on Sunday for a series of talks on security, trade and other issues where he also met Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei on Monday.
Oman has traditionally been a neutral state in the Gulf, generally open to warm talks with Iran but also close with its other Gulf neighbors. As such, Oman has played a key role also in talks looking to resolve the Yemen conflict. Back in 2018, Oman also hosted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a meeting that could be said to have foreshadowed the Abraham Accords.
According to Iranian Fars News, the Iranian Supreme Leader met with the Sultan of Oman and used the opportunity to bash Israel and warn about the “presence of the Zionist regime” in the region. Clearly, Iran is seeking to reconcile with Saudi Arabia and the Gulf on the one hand, while doing outreach to countries like Oman on the other hand while also seeking to confront Israel at the same time.
Iran opposes Abraham Accords
Iran has long raged against the Abraham Accords and tried to encourage countries not to do outreach to Israel. Iran doesn’t want to see more normalization, and as such, the Supreme Leader’s comments on Monday reflect Iran’s larger concerns and its Janus-faced attempt to push diplomatic moves on the one hand and also incite against Israel on the other. The Iranian reports also indicated that Iran’s Supreme Leader suggested more cooperation in the Strait of Hormuz, where Iran has harassed Western tankers as well as more cooperation with Egypt.
This week, the delegations from Oman and Iran also met in Tehran with Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi. According to various reports from Iran and the region, the talks look to improve commercial and trade ties. This is important for Oman which has also sought to improve trade with Qatar and other states. The meetings in Iran are part of a larger series of diplomatic initiatives by countries in the region designed to create a kind of new diplomatic era. For instance, the Arab League has welcomed the Syrian regime back to its fold.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei meets with Oman’s Sultan Haitham bin Tariq in Tehran, Iran May 29, 2023. (credit: Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/WANA/Handout via Reuters)Iran’s Mehr news said that the Iranian “president said that the shared views and the stances of the leaders of the two countries to strengthen the regional integration along with the capacities and potentials and suitable fields that the two sides offer to each other, can expand the relations between them in the bilateral and regional fields.”
The leaders discussed trade, defense and security. They also signed four cooperation documents.
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