by Paul Iddon
It is no surprise that U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is meeting Iran's Foreign Minister Javad Zarif in the Sultanate of Oman. Oman after all has had quite a cordial relationship with Iran since 1979.
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| Sultan Qaboos and Ayatollah Khamenei. |
“If asked … if our help is asked, we will give it. And this is what we are doing in Muscat and Oman. But we are fighting … terrorists. Some people call them army of liberation. But what are they? Just savages in the mountains, living like goats, and acting like terrorists.”
That was the last Shah of Iran in 1974 answering a question regarding the deployment of Iranian forces beyond Iran's own territory. The Shah took up the opportunity to rather haughtily dismiss the communist insurgency, which he was assisting the Sultan of Oman (Sultan Qaboo's) to put down. That effort consisted of some 1,200 Iranian Army forces decisively backing Qaboo's forces and helped him to overcome the threat to his rule. Saudi Arabia had supported the rudiments of that revolt against Oman some years earlier. Its relations with Oman weren't very cordial considering their prior clashing over who owned the Buraimi Oasis.
In relation to Iran-Oman relations 1974 was a very important year given the fact it was that year that both countries mutually defined their territorial waters and also agreed to allow each other to police the others territorial waters, given their proximity to the strategically important Strait of Hormuz waterway. More recently there has even been
talk about directly connecting Iran and Oman via a “high bridge over the Strait of Hormuz.”
After the Shah's fall in 1979 and the ascendance of the present regime both countries still retained relatively cordial ties. Throughout the Iran-Iraq War while Oman wasn't particularly happy with Iran mining the Persian Gulf, it never joined other Gulf Cooperation Council member states who supported the brutal Saddam Hussein regime against the Iranians. In fact it retained diplomatic relations with both parties in that war and even
hosted ceasefire talks between the two sides on its soil. While they didn't bear fruit they did nevertheless serve as another example of the role Oman has often played as a mediator between Iran and its rivals.
Qaboos himself
has visited Iran in recent years and there are plans to construct a $1 billion natural-gas pipeline between it and Iran. Another clear sign that Oman isn't following suit with Saudi-led efforts to bind together the Arab states of the Persian Gulf against the threat they perceive Iran to pose. The present U.S. administration, it shouldn't be forgotten, has even gone as far as to urge the GCC to set aside internal disputes, such as the diplomatic rift with member-state Qatar this year, by collectively uniting militarily against Iran.
An Emirati academic was
quoted by Bloomberg earlier this year aptly illustrating the unique nature of Oman. He maintains that, “Oman isn't enthusiastic about integration and cooperation and I don't think it ever will be. The Sultan has always maintained a sense of mysteriousness about Oman, and they think of themselves as somewhat different from the rest of the GCC.”
Furthermore, in the past when the Clinton administration made failed overtures to the Iranians it did so through the Omanis. However, those overtures
didn't bear fruit, largely due to suspicions and allegations within the U.S. intelligence community that Iran had a hand in the Khobar Towers bombing of 1996. A bombing it was suspected was carried out by the Saudi Hezbollah group. The Saudis were hesitant about disclosing any evidence they had about the group in apparent fear it would add credence to any justification of a U.S. campaign. While exploring his options at that time for such a campaign Clinton went as far as declaring that he didn't “want any pissant half-measures.”
Though the Omani channel was subsequently closed it once again signified the importance of Oman as a conduit between the U.S. and Iran. Also, the mistakes the United States seemed to have since learned from their conduct back then was their sole reliance on Iran's president as opposed to the ruling establishment and its Supreme Leader as a whole.
Now ahead of what could very well be
deemed a historic deal over Iran's nuclear program U.S. Secretary of State Kerry is set to meet Iran's Foreign Minister Zarif later this month – November 9 and 10 – in order to discuss the negotiations ahead of the set deadline, on November 24, for a final agreement. Again for aforementioned reasons it is no coincidence that Oman is where this meeting will transpire. And it won't be surprising if that country continues to serve such a unique role in relation to such issues for the foreseeable future.
