Oman Proposes Inclusive Security and Economic Pact Between Iran and Gulf States

Oman's Foreign Minister, Badr Al Busaidi, has advocated for a peace agreement that would foster collaboration on security and the regional economy between Iran and the Arab Gulf states. During a visit to the UK on Wednesday, he outlined that this agreement would materialize as a security pact encompassing Iran, Iraq, and Yemen, nations where Tehran maintains active armed proxies. Al Busaidi suggested that the United States should prioritize an economic role in the Gulf and Iran over a military one.

Addressing the BBC's Radio 4, Mr. Al Busaidi stated, "The idea of a Gulf security architecture that doesn't include Iran is inherently unstable, structurally unsound." He emphasized the need to engage with Iran, noting, "Iran is an objective fact and closing our eyes doesn't make it go away. I want to fully engage it and bring it to the fold, I want to see peace in the Gulf."

This proposal was initially presented on Monday during a lecture at the University of Cambridge. There, he remarked that the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz had become an intractable issue, exacerbated by "external powers continue[ing] to define the terms of engagement." He further elaborated, “What holds us back is that issues, which ought to be handled at a regional level by the states of the Gulf themselves, are made more complex, more intractable and sometimes simply impossible to resolve because the region’s security arrangements are insufficiently developed. They are insufficiently developed because they have relied for too long on the involvement of external powers.”

However, on Wednesday, he sought to reassure that a security pact would not signal a reduction in US involvement. "The US and other friends can still be involved and can invest substantially more in the economic promise of the region. They can be real partners," he told the BBC. "It is time for a change of emphasis, a transition from the military only to the more lucrative economic sphere for all of us," he added.

Mr. Al Busaidi attributed recent instability and events, including US air strikes on Iran in February, to the ongoing conflict. He pointed to Iran's repeated attacks on energy sites across the Gulf and the actions of its Yemeni proxy, the Houthis, against infrastructure and civilian airports in Saudi Arabia. "All these recent events [are] as a result of the war that was waged against Iran by the United States," he asserted.

Oman maintains strong ties with Tehran and the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen, often acting as a mediator for the US and its Western allies. However, Oman is not participating in the current ceasefire negotiations between the US and Iran, which are being facilitated by Pakistan and Qatar. Reports earlier this year indicated that US President Trump had allegedly threatened Oman, perceiving its pursuit of an alternative agreement with Iran on reopening the Strait of Hormuz as interference.

Mr. Al Busaidi highlighted a historical precedent for such a regional agreement, referencing a 1976 meeting in Muscat where foreign ministers from eight Gulf countries convened. He noted that subsequent major events, including the Iranian revolution, the Iran-Iraq war, and the invasion of Afghanistan, had postponed such possibilities. "But the circumstances that had postponed the possibility of a pact were 'no longer there,'" Mr. Al Busaidi concluded. "Today we want to reconvene a proper inclusive process between all the countries in the region."