Rouhani meets Sultan Qaboos
Iranian president travels to Oman and Kuwait to discuss reducing hostility between Tehran and Arab countries
MUSCAT // Iranian president Hassan Rouhani met Sultan Qaboos in Muscat yesterday before travelling to Kuwait for talks aimed at easing tensions with the GCC.
“The aim of Mr Rouhani’s visit to Muscat is to consult with Oman to look at ways that Iran can remove the hostility that exists with other Arab regional countries,” an Iranian diplomat in Muscat said.
“The sectarian issues should not come between Iran and the Gulf states, and the focus for this visit is to seek a peaceful and lasting solution in the region that would benefit all.” Mr Rouhani, on his second visit to Oman since his election in 2013, was greeted by Sultan Qaboos bin Said at the royal airport in Muscat.
It was the sultan’s first public appearance since November when he attended the country’s National Day celebrations. Iran and Saudi Arabia have been locked in a cold war as Tehran has used the turmoil first of the United States’ invasion of Iraq in 2003 and then the Arab Spring uprisings of 2011 to increase its influence across the Middle East and bolster allied governments and associated militias. Riyadh has also supported militias, particularly in Syria, and intervened to reinstate the Yemeni government after it was overthrown by rebels allied to Iran.
The struggle for influence has inflamed sectarianism across the region, and tensions between Iran and the GCC have continued to increase despite seeming to peak last year.
Tehran feels the pressure increasing from a new administration in Washington that has stated that it will take a take a much harder line than its predecessor, which sought to engage Iran in the hope that it would alter its behaviour after a historic nuclear deal. The Republican Donald Trump administration’s desire to work more closely with Saudi Arabia to contain Iran may make Riyadh more willing to talk to Tehran, and observers said it was unlikely that Mr Rouhani would meet counterparts in Kuwait City without the approval of Saudi Arabia. Mr Rouhani was scheduled to hold talks with the emir, Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah.
It is believed they would focus on reducing hostilities between Iran and the GCC.
The visit came after a rare trip by the Kuwaiti foreign minister to Tehran last month, where he delivered a message from the GCC that reportedly laid out a basis for any future talks, including final negotiations on Emirati islands occupied by Iran, non-interference in the internal affairs of Arab countries, and dropping its support for militias, including Hizbollah in Lebanon.
It is unlikely that Iran will agree to the demands as a basis for talks, and there may be an initial focus on lower-hanging fruit to build confidence, such as getting Iranian pilgrims back to the Haj after Iran announced a boycott of the pilgrimage last year.
Analysts in the Gulf were doubtful that Mr Rouhani’s visit would lead to a process of detente, and from the Gulf perspective was more an attempt to show that they had made an effort at conciliation.
Oman is an outlier state among the GCC member nations and has maintained close diplomatic and economic relations with Iran. It was responsible for bro- kering the secret talks that eventually resulted in successful negotiations over Tehran’s nuclear programme. Oman hoped that it would benefit from Iran’s economic reintegration to world markets with the lifting of sanctions, and the Iranian diplomat said that Mr Rouhani planned to “seal the deal” on a US$ 60 billion (Dh220bn) gas pipeline project agreed to in 2013 that will export gas from Iran to Oman. The countries agreed this month on a new route that will avoid the UAE’s territorial waters. “The gas pipeline project between Oman and Iran will be an economical milestone for the two countries,” the Iranian diplomat said. “Mr Rouhani is convinced that this project will also bring together all Gulf countries to address their common energy needs.”
Oman has maintained close diplomatic and economic relations with Iran
Among the most extraordinary aspects to the leadership in Tehran is how tone-deaf they are diplomatically. As Iran’s president was preparing to visit Oman and Kuwait – Hassan Rouhani has now returned home after his flying visit to the Gulf – his deputy chief of staff said the Gulf should “take advantage of the good opportunity” in case it “passes like a cloud”.
Such language would be understandable from a major country such as China. But from Iran? By yardstick every major milestone – international relations, strong alliances, development – Iran lags behind the countries of the Gulf. Indeed, one would hope that Mr Rouhani’s visit showed him what life could be like on the other side of the Arabian Gulf if his country stopped playing a detrimental role and started playing a constructive one.
This is why, again and again, the Gulf states have sought dialogue and diplomacy with Tehran. It was the Gulf, after all, that initiated this meeting – Kuwait’s foreign minister delivered a message of dialogue in January on behalf of the region – not Tehran. It is because we recognise how badly ordinary Iranians and Arabs have been affected by the current policies of Tehran.
Millions of people, from Iranians to Iraqis to Yemenis to Syrians have been harmed by the wars that Iran has provoked. All of this is unnecessary. But in order for the Iranian government to truly seek better ties with the Gulf states, it must first halt its provocative policies. It cannot come to the region and talk peace, while its military advisers support Bashar Al Assad and its sectarian policies find their way to Baghdad and weapons are funneled to the Houthis in Yemen. The two are linked.
Neither can this be business as usual. In a separate development, the Houthi rebels, who occupy Sanaa, were seeking to cap imports and affect the monetary policy of Yemen. Leaving aside how this will aggravate a food crisis and affect ordinary Yemenis, it also shows how the rebels are seeking to normalise what remains a state of war. This seems to be Tehran’s hope: that the extreme groups it supports in Arab countries will be able to find roles affect national policy, and Tehran’s role will be forgotten. But it cannot be. There is only one path to better relations with the Gulf states and that is the path of genuine diplomacy. Provocation and politics cannot be mixed.