Yemen top of agenda during Omani minister’s US visit
The conflict in Yemen is the main focus of discussions between Omani Foreign Minister Yusuf bin Alawi and US officials during his week-long visit to Washington.
Mr Alawi was yesterday due to meet Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, after talks with Defence Secretary James Mattis, members of Congress including House Speaker Paul Ryan and national security and treasury officials.
Yemen’s three-year civil war and peace efforts led by UN special envoy Martin Griffiths have been a major topic of discussion. Mr Griffiths has been leading negotiations to resolve a stand-off over the rebel-held port city of Hodeidah.
Gerald Feierstein, a former US ambassador and director for Gulf Affairs at the Middle East Institute, said Mr Alawi’s discussions have focused on “Yemen and the effort to resume co-operation within the GCC”.
“Oman has historically played a mediating role on both issues and their continued engagement with the US can help advance talks now,” Mr Feierstein told The National.
The US-Iran stand-off was also expected to be on the table before the resumption of US sanctions next week. Muscat, after boosting trade ties with Tehran in the past three years, is trying to readjust its investments to avoid a backlash from the sanctions.
“The Omanis are not happy about the US decision to pull out of the Iran nuclear deal but they’re unlikely to openly challenge the resumption of sanctions,” Mr Feierstein said.
Oman has played a back-channel role between Washington and Tehran in the past, but there is no indication of such an effort now.
After their meeting at the Pentagon, spokeswoman Dana White said Mr Alawi and Mr Mattis “discussed a broad range of regional security issues, including the conflict in Yemen, freedom of navigation and multilateral counterterrorism co-operation”.
Fatima Al Asrar, a senior analyst at the Arabia Foundation, told The National that “while Oman is playing a neutral part in the conflict, it should do more to ensure that it’s able to secure its borders from smuggling activity along the Omani-Yemeni border, which benefits the Houthi militia”.