President Hassan Rouhani of Iran concluded yesterday (13/03) an official trip to Oman by signing a long-awaited deal to supply natural gas to its closest Gulf ally, as reported by local media. The visit is Mr Rouhani’s first to an Arab neighbour since he was elected president in August. Sultan Qaboos bin Said al-Said, Oman’s ruler, was the first foreign leader to visit Tehran following the election of Mr Rouhani who pledged to improve strained relations with neighbouring countries, notably Saudi Arabia.
The trip comes against a backdrop of rising tensions in the Gulf. Riyadh, the region’s oil-rich political heavyweight, is fuming at the speed with which US and western officials are pursuing talks with Iran, its historic foe, over the Islamic republic’s nuclear programme. Oman acted as broker in laying the groundwork for that nascent western-Iranian rapprochement. "The visit is a way for Rouhani to thank Oman for its role, as well as making progress on important oil and gas issues vital for both economies,” said Marc Valeri, an Oman specialist at Exeter university. He added: "It is also another way to show other [Gulf] countries that Muscat will continue good relations with Iran no matter what others think.”
Saudi Arabia and others in the region believe Iran has duped the west to ease sanctions that were proving increasingly effective, notes the "Financial Times” in a special report. Riyadh is concerned the US is realigning its regional priorities and fears the resurgence of Iran as a major power in the region, where the two nations are locked in a proxy cold war stretching from Syria and Lebanon to Iraq, Yemen and Bahrain. Iranian officials acknowledge privately that Saudi Arabia has snubbed both Mr Rouhani and Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran’s foreign minister, both of whom had been willing to travel to Riyadh.
Mr Rouhani’s visit to Oman has fuelled speculation that Iran is seeking further mediation. Oman has acted as a back channel between the west and Iran for years, hosting the preliminary talks that allowed the western powers to seek a diplomatic breakthrough with the Islamic republic last year. Muscat had previously played an intermediary role between Iran and Iraq during their war in the 1980s. Ali Bigdeli, an Iranian analyst, told Fararu, a moderate news website, that the "goal of Rouhani’s visit to Oman could possibly be to end cold relations with Saudi Arabia”.
Analysts also believe, despite progress on talks, that longstanding mistrust between the US and Iran could require further third-party mediation as tensions continue over issues such as Syria and human rights violations in Iran. Economic co-operation was high on the agenda during the Oman visit, on which Mr Rouhani was accompanied by Bijan Namdar Zanganeh, Iran’s oil minister, and the country’s central bank governor. The gas deal will mean Iran supplying 10bn cubic metres of gas annually via a 350km pipeline linking southern Iran to the port of Sohar, in northern Oman.
Mr Zanganeh said he hoped the pipeline could open in three years’ time, illustrating the new Iranian government’s determination to translate better international relations into real economic recovery after years of biting sanctions. Oman is expected to meet the costs of the contract, estimated at about $1bn, though the exact figure has yet to be finalised. The gas, which would meet Oman’s rising domestic consumption requirements, could then be re-exported to other regional countries. "We will for the first time enter into Oman’s retail market,” Mr Zanganeh said.
