Oman’s sultan to embark on two-day visit to Iran

Oman’s Sultan Haitham bin Tariq will embark on a two-day visit to Iran this week, Omani state media said Wednesday.

The visit which will kick off on Sunday follows a Chinese-brokered rapprochement deal between Saudi Arabia and Iran announced in March.

“Sultan Haitham bin Tariq will go on an official two-day visit to Iran… in response to an invitation from the Iranian president,” the official Oman News Agency said.

“The visit will also touch on means of promoting cooperation between Oman and Iran in different spheres.”

The visit comes a year after Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi visited Muscat — a trip that saw the two countries sign a string of trade deals.

Oman has close ties with Iran and played a mediating role between Tehran and Washington in the build-up to a nuclear deal reached in 2015.

Stop-start talks began in April last year to restore the deal, after the US unilaterally withdrew from it in 2018 and reimposed sanctions on Iran, prompting Tehran to roll back its commitments.