The Trump administration continues to threaten Oman over its role as a trusted mediator with Iran:
Three months later, that neutral stance is beginning to backfire. Washington increasingly interprets Oman’s approach toward Tehran as hostile to America and, according to U.S. and Arab officials, has pressed Oman to pick a side and cut diplomatic ties with Iran.
In recent days, the Trump administration has threatened to sanction and even bomb Oman, after a new intelligence assessment concluded that Muscat was planning to join Iran in tolling vessels in the strategic Strait of Hormuz, according to another U.S. official. Oman has repeatedly denied that it plans to do so.
Threatening Oman because it has good enough relations with Iran that it can be a mediator is extremely stupid and short-sighted. The Omani government has been indispensable as a conduit for communication between the U.S. and Iran. Oman is one of the few countries in the region that has a close enough relationship with Iran to facilitate diplomatic engagement. It is no surprise that an administration that despises diplomacy and sees everything as a zero-sum competition would insist on making Oman “pick a side.”
We shouldn’t want Oman to pick a side. Oman is much more valuable to the United States as a neutral country that can act as a bridge between the two sides. If Oman were coerced into “siding” with the U.S., the U.S. would be worse off because it would no longer be able to rely on their government to fill that diplomatic role. The U.S. has plenty of subservient clients, but it doesn’t have many governments that it can count on to help communicate with Iran.
The Omani government shows no sign of giving in to U.S. threats. At the moment, they are mostly just baffled by the president’s sudden hostility. It is the U.S. that is poisoning the relationship right now. If the relationship sours further, it will be because the U.S. chose to ruin it for no reason.
Oman has no good reason to cut ties with its much larger neighbor. If the U.S. chooses to interpret Oman’s independent foreign policy as something hostile to the United States, that is just more evidence of the president’s derangement and desperation. All that these pressure tactics will achieve is proving that no country is safe from the U.S.
