Rouhani eyes better ties with Gulf states
beirut — Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said his country sought good relations with its Gulf Arab neighbours as he began a oneday trip to Oman and Kuwait on Wednesday, his first since taking power in 2013.
Relations between Iran and Gulf Arab countries, particularly Saudi Arabia, remain strained over their support for opposing sides in the conflicts in Syria and Yemen.
“The basis of the policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran is always good neighbourly relations with neighbours and the security of the Arabian Gulf,” Rouhani said, according to the Islamic Republic News Agency (Irna).
Rouhani also said there should be greater unity between Shias and Sunnis, saying they had “coexisted side by side peacefully for hundreds of years”, Irna reported.
Omani state news agency ONA reported that the country’s ruler, His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said, welcomed Rouhani with a 21-gun salute when he arrived at the Al Alam Palace in the capital Muscat. Omani media showed Qaboos receiving Rouhani outside the palace, the sultan’s second public appearance since he returned from medical checks in Germany in April last year.
The agency said the two sides discussed ways for enhancing bilateral cooperation but gave no fur- ther details. Oman helped to mediate secret US-Iran talks in 2013 that led to the historic nuclear deal signed in Geneva two years later.
Qaboos became the first Arab head of state to visit Iran after Rouhani took office. In 2013, the two countries signed an agreement to supply Iranian gas to Oman through a pipeline to be built under the Gulf in a deal valued at $60 billion.
Rouhani was due in Kuwait later on Wednesday for talks with Amir of Kuwait His Highness Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah, expected to include efforts to ease tensions between Tehran and Riyadh.
Kuwait’s foreign minister made a rare visit to Tehran in late January.