Iranian leader warns Oman against Israel

Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has warned Oman’s Sultan Haitham bin Tariq Al Said about the “dangers” of Israel’s presence in the region.

In a meeting with the Omani leader on May 29, Khamenei urged "all regional countries to take into account the policy pursued by the Zionist [Israeli] regime and its supporters to sow discord and erode peace in the region," the official website of the supreme leader reports.

Referring to negotiations between Iranians and Omanis, Khamenei noted that “increasing Iran-Oman cooperation is significant because the two countries share the very important Strait of Hormuz waterway.”

"We believe that the expansion of bilateral relations in all fields is beneficial for both countries," he was quoted as saying.

Oman’s sultan, who arrived in Iran on May 28, for talks on security, trade, and other issues, told Khamenei that Egypt would be willing to resume diplomatic relations with Tehran. Cairo has not yet commented on these statements.

"We welcome the Omani Sultan's statement about Egypt's willingness to resume relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran and we have no problem in this regard," Khamenei said, according to his official website.

Oman has no official relations with Israel, but its Civil Aviation Authority announced earlier this year that its airspace will be open for all flights leaving Israel. Oman thus joined Saudi Arabia, which opened its airspace to flights from Israel this past July.

Though Oman does not officially recognize the State of Israel and has said that it will not normalize ties with the Jewish state until the establishment of a Palestinian state, there have been on-and-off relations between the two nations for years.

In October 2018, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a surprise visit to Oman, and it seemed there was a warming of ties between the countries.