Rouhani visits Oman to boost trade, Gulf ties

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani met Oman's leaders in Muscat on Wednesday during a visit aimed at boosting ties and easing tension with other Gulf states, including regional heavyweight Saudi Arabia. Starting his two-day visit to Iran's long-time Gulf ally, Rouhani went straight into a meeting with Sultan Qaboos, who has acted as an intermediary between Western countries and the Islamic republic. The two leaders discussed "bilateral co-operation" and "building good relations", Oman's official ONA news agency said.
Before leaving Tehran for Muscat, Rouhani had called the visit "of great importance to strengthen relations between Iran and Islamic countries, especially those neighbouring Iran". "The Strait of Hormuz gives countries south of the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea great importance," Iran's official news agency IRNA cited him as saying.
Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards unit is tasked with protecting the country's waters in the strategic strait, at the entrance to the Gulf, a key gateway for global oil supplies. Omani Foreign Minister Yusuf bin Alawi said Rouhani's visit "reflects the confidence" that exists between Muscat and Tehran, who are both "convinced that the top priority is achieving real stability in the region". "We seek to strengthen this co-operation to serve and bring closer together all (countries) in the region," the Oman daily quoted Alawi as saying. Rouhani has pledged to improve relations with Iran's Arab neighbours in the Gulf since his election last year.
His foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, visited four Gulf states in December and voiced readiness to visit Saudi Arabia, which however remains cool to the idea. Relations between Shia-majority Iran and Sunni-ruled Saudi Arabia have long been strained as the two countries vie for regional dominance. Alawi said Oman had "played a role in the rapprochement between the West and Iran", adding that his country had helped "reduce distrust". He expressed confidence that "both parties will continue" talking until they resolve their differences. Rouhani is the second Iranian leader to visit Oman since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. His hard-line predecessor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visited in 2007.