The member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council, or GCC, have stood out in recent times for efficiently balancing their relationships with competing world powers as a way to higher place themselves for the rising multipolar world. Nonetheless, of all of them, Oman has most leveraged its long-standing custom of sturdy neutrality in a risky area to make itself a uniquely valued companion for each world and regional powers. Particularly, Washington’s continued reliance on Muscat as a significant backchannel for oblique talks with Tehran has develop into a permanent pillar of Oman’s regional overseas coverage, one which has solely develop into extra central amid the escalating regional confrontation between Israel and Iran.
Former President Donald Trump’s return to the White Home following his victory within the U.S. presidential election on Nov. 5 alerts a possible return by Washington to the hardline strategy towards Tehran that characterised his first time period as president. Nonetheless, Oman’s stable impartiality towards Iran would doubtless stay unshakeable even when U.S.-Iranian relations worsen and the regional panorama turns into much more risky.
The small Gulf state’s neutrality was a trademark of its overseas coverage all through the 50-year reign of Sultan Qaboos Bin Stated, and it has been maintained by Sultan Haitham Bin Tariq since he assumed the throne following Qaboos’ loss of life in February 2020. Certainly, though Oman has historically been a significant protection companion for each the U.S. and the U.Ok., its pragmatic outlook on overseas coverage has enabled it to keep up ties with Iran, in addition to different nations that embrace a few of Washington and London’s bitterest adversaries.
