A spokesman for Sultan Qaboos intimated last month, perhaps inadvertently, that the Sultan might be a bit edgy about making his first state visit to Iran since the Revolution around now—But the Sultan did come, just in time for Ahmediejad’s swearing in, and with all of his energy, trade, gas and economy ministers in tow. Was the idea that the shadow of that event was so big that it could hide the Sultanate? Hard to believe, but maybe it was. Noone outside the two parties seem to want to touch this with a ten foot pole.
Over the last three days, the two countries signed agreements and MOUs related to “mutual security, and the fight against smuggling and crime, including the exchange of related information”, “environmental, technical and professional cooperation”, and “cultural exchange”. The list goes on. Apparently Muscat will even open a Farsi language institute shortly. Particularly notable are agreements governing the long-discussed joint development of Hengam gas field and setup of a joint 500 MW power station within Qeshm Free Zone (see recent posts for more on QFZ).
All of this is page 4 news in the Saudi-financed Asharq Al Awsat (the visit itself sort of made the firont page yesterday), and doesn’t seem to have hit the US papers but minimally. Of course, the Omanis need much of what Iran can offer in terms of assistance, and the Iranians need the diplomatic boost, but does this seem like the actions of a Gulf State itching for nuclear power and/or a nuclear shield to protect itself from its evil neighbor to the north? In fact this is the long-awaited denouement of an escalating series of very senior and mainly commercial exchanges dating back more than 2 years. –EDC
The interior of the Grand Mosque in Muscat speaks volumes of the on-going relationship between Iran and Oman ( http://blog.omanholiday.co.uk/blog/_archives/2009/8/4/4277229.html ) , the relationship of Saudi and Oman seems less involved. Perhaps after a suitable period a senior US official will make a Palace call – William Cohen seemed to be a frequent visitor when he was Defense Secretary under Clinton – perhaps Hilary will start calling.