Sultan Haitham bin Tariq, leader since early 2020, worked closely with Iraq and Kuwait to end a seven-year suspension of diplomatic relations between Riyadh and Tehran, formally announced last week as part of a deal brokered by China, the
news site recalls.
Having hosted several rounds of confidence-building talks between Iran and Saudi Arabia in the lead up to the so-called Beijing Agreement, Oman is also playing a key role in ending the civil war that has plagued its southern neighbour Yemen since 2014, it adds.
Francis Owtram, an honorary research fellow with the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies at Britain’s Exeter University, told SCMP that Oman would “look to capitalise diplomatically and economically” on its successes as a diplomatic intermediary.
