Iranupdated 1h ago3 min read
Archive photo · 21 July 2014Oman’s Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi Calls For Gulf Security Framework With Iran
5 West Asian1 Other1 Western MainstreamPhoto: Vysotsky, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Cropped for layout
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Oman proposes a Gulf security framework including Iran and Iraq with a non-aggression pact. Iran’s participation is essential for any Persian Gulf security arrangement.
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Oman urges Iran inclusion
Oman’s Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi called for a regional security framework that includes Iran and a “non-aggression pact” among the eight states bordering the Gulf, saying excluding Iran would make any arrangement “inherently unstable” and “structurally unsound.” Albusaidi argued that “It’s not a matter of whether you’re friendly or hostile to Iran,” and he said “A Non-Aggression Pact between all eight states should be the goal,” referring to the six GCC members, Iraq and Iran.
Albusaidi said Oman-Iran consultations had outlined a temporary arrangement to restore free navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, while he said political obstacles remained to implementing it. Albusaidi said it was “hard to see how any such arrangement can be implemented unless both Iran and the United States are willing to compromise and reach a pragmatic understanding,” linking navigation progress to concessions between Washington and Tehran.
Talks, milestones, and obstacles
Oman’s foreign minister told an audience at Girton College, University of Cambridge, that the discussion on Persian Gulf security is increasingly intertwined with “issues of insecurity, long-standing tensions, vulnerability of vital maritime routes,” and a long history of armed conflict from the Iran–Iraq War in the 1980s to the Gulf War in 1991. The Oman foreign minister said Oman facilitated indirect talks between Iran and the United States in Muscat, Rome, and Geneva, including five rounds in April and May 2025 and three rounds in February of the current year, aiming to resolve disagreements over Iran’s nuclear program and end 47 years of mutual hostility.
The Oman foreign minister said a second phase began after the signing of a memorandum of understanding between Iran and the United States on June 17, and he said that deal halted the armed conflict that began on February 28 while negotiations over the nuclear dossier continued. The Oman foreign minister said a return to negotiations after the end of the war had become difficult, and he said one milestone for resuming talks would be reaching an agreement on restoring freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.
Non-aggression pact and 1976
A lecture text carried by جريدة عمان said Badr bin Hamad Al-Busaidi argued that building a comprehensive Gulf regional security structure is possible provided a non-aggression pact is built, describing it as “the basic prerequisite for the creation of a comprehensive and genuine regional security structure.” The lecture text said the foreign ministers of Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates met in Muscat in November 1976 to work on a Gulf-wide collective security arrangement, and it said that was the “last time eight GCC states gathered around one table.”
The lecture text said the war waged by Israel and the United States on Iran on February 28 of last year was halted by a memorandum of understanding between Tehran and Washington on June 17, and it said measures taken during the war led to a substantial halt in navigation through the strait. The lecture text said the foreign minister urged Gulf states to take responsibility for their own security in a comprehensive way that involves all Gulf states “as a matter of principle and practice,” and it said the required regional dialogue should begin “before other solutions are imposed on the region that would effectively entrench a pattern of dependency and exclusion.”