Oman says Iranian attacks on Gulf 'inevitable' response to US-Israeli assault

Oman's foreign minister has called for the US to extricate itself from the war in Iran, describing the Islamic Republic's attacks on Gulf states as an "inevitable" reaction to the assault.

“Oman says Iranian attacks on Gulf 'inevitable' response to US-Israeli assault Oman's foreign minister has called for the US to extricate itself from the war in Iran, describing the Islamic Republic's attacks on Gulf states as an "inevitable" reaction to the assault”

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Writing in the Economist, Badr Al Busaidi - who also mediated the most recent failed talks between the US and Iran - said that the US had miscalculated by allowing itself to be "drawn into" the conflict with Iran.

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"Iran’s retaliation against what it claims are American targets on the territory of its neighbours was an inevitable, if deeply regrettable and completely unacceptable, result," he wrote.

"Faced with what both Israel and America described as a war designed to terminate the Islamic Republic, this was probably the only rational option available to the Iranian leadership."

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Since Wednesday, Iran has launched a volley of attacks on petrochemical facilities across the Gulf, including Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, causing at least two fires.

The US-Israeli attack on Iran, and the Islamic Republic's subsequent retaliation, has had a devastating effect on global energy prices, exacerbated by Iran's closure of the vital Strait of Hormuz.

Al Busaidi warned that the Gulf states' status as a stable hub for tourism, technology and finance was now "endangered" and said plans for them to become global hubs for data centres "may need to be revised".

“Oman says Iranian attacks on Gulf 'inevitable' response to US-Israeli assault Oman's foreign minister has called for the US to extricate itself from the war in Iran, describing the Islamic Republic's attacks on Gulf states as an "inevitable" reaction to the assault”

Middle East Eye

"The effects of Iran’s retaliation are already being felt globally, as maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz is severely disrupted, driving up energy prices and threatening deep recession," he wrote.

"If this had not been anticipated by the architects of this war, that was surely a grave miscalculation."

He added that only Israel stood to gain materially by overthrowing the Islamic Republic, and had little concern about who governs Iran subsequently.

He said that it was "not America's war" and allies of the US needed to be frank with the country.

"That begins with the fact that there are two parties to this war who have nothing to gain from it, and that the national interests of both Iran and America lie in the earliest possible end to hostilities," he wrote.

"This is an uncomfortable truth to tell, because it involves indicating the extent to which America has lost control of its own foreign policy. But it must be told."