Oman: Anti-Iran speech may force us to pull out of Arab summit

Oman sent Jordan a messaging saying that the Gulf state will reduce its presence at the Arab Summit scheduled for 29 March or will excuse itself if comments or recommendations made during the event put Muscat in an awkward situation, diplomatic sources have said.

According to London’s Rai Al-Youm newspaper, the same sources said that the message did not mention what would constitute an awkward position for Muscat.

However, based on what the sources said, the issue is related to Saudi Arabia’s firm positions against Iran.

The sources explained that Muscat had previously told Amman that it would find it more appropriate to reduce its presence if the closing statement included statements accusing Iran of sponsoring terrorism in the region or calling for severing ties with Iran.

Oman stated that it does not want to cause any humiliation for any side and will only resort to reducing its representation if some of the neighbouring countries insist on adopting firm positions on the Iranian issue.

Oman and Kuwait support, from behind the scenes, holding dialogue with Iran based on mutual interests given the fact that it is a neighbouring country.