Fearing Iran, Oman hesitant in normalise ties with Israel

The Sultanate of Oman is willing to normalise ties with Israel but is hesitant that its relationship with Iran would be severely harmed if it made the move, Israel Hayom reported a UAE source saying yesterday.

The paper said that Oman is the only Gulf state which has relations with Iran, noting that Bahrain was hesitant to agree on normalising relations with Israel fearing Iran’s response because two-thirds of the country’s population is Shia.

After the UAE announced that it was building official ties with the occupation state, Bahrain made a similar move.

“Therefore, other countries are doing the same step soon,” the newspaper reported.

Meanwhile, the newspaper reported what it claimed to be a consensus among Arab diplomats that Saudi Arabia “will not move to full overt relations with Israel in light of its obligation towards the Palestinian cause”.

These remarks came in parallel with the declaration of the Israeli Mossad Chief Yossi Cohen on Sunday evening that other states are making deals with Israel.

Cohen has previously said that Oman, which hailed the Emirati and Bahraini deals with Israel, could formalise ties with the country.

In 2018, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Oman and met with the then- leader Sultan Qaboos.

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