Oman has watched with concern as the rivalry between Sunni Muslim Saudi Arabia and Shi’ite Iran has spread across the region. Riyadh and some other members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), of which Oman is a member, believe Tehran is using sectarianism to interfere in Arab countries and build its own sphere of Middle East influence.
Riyadh has backed groups opposing Iranian proxies in unrest or outright war in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Bahrain and Yemen, and has persuaded most of the GCC to close ranks against Tehran. Oman has sought to distance itself from that effort.
It facilitated secret US talks with Tehran that led to a 2015 deal on Iran’s nuclear program which Riyadh regarded with deep suspicion. While other GCC countries gave money and political support to Iraqi President Saddam Hussein in his 1980-88 war with Iran, Oman maintained relations with Tehran and helped to mediate a ceasefire that ended the fighting.
The Sultanate, which sits on the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula through which flows 40 percent of the world’s seaborne crude oil, has a history of constructive relations with Tehran and sees itself as a mediator in a turbulent region.
Islamic State has pledged to overthrow the monarchies of the Gulf and has also mounted a series of attacks on Shi’ite Muslim mosques and security forces in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.