Oman pushes Gulf non-aggression pact amid fears of renewed Iran-US escalation

Oman is being presented as a possible mediator for a new Gulf security arrangement after a lecture by Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr Albusaidi at Cambridge University called for a non-aggression pact among all eight Gulf littoral states. The proposal would bring together the six members of the Gulf Cooperation Council, plus Iraq and Iran, under a framework intended to reduce the risk of conflict. The argument is being made at a time when another escalation between Iran and the United States is seen as a looming possibility.

According to the lecture cited in the supporting material, Albusaidi described the pact as the essential prerequisite for an inclusive regional security architecture. He acknowledged that such an agreement would be difficult to achieve, but argued that the region urgently needs a diplomatic path forward. The article frames the initiative as a response to the fact that regional security arrangements have remained underdeveloped and have relied too heavily on external powers.

The proposal is linked to a historical precedent in Muscat. In November 1976, the foreign ministers of all eight Gulf littoral states met there to pursue collective security after Britain withdrew from the region, and the supporting material says this remains the only time all eight have sat at one table. The article also notes that later regional shocks, including the Iranian Revolution, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the Iran-Iraq war, pushed the region toward defensive arrangements that hardened into exclusion.

That history is used to argue that any durable security framework must include Iran, which holds roughly half the Gulf coastline. The timing matters because the Gulf remains exposed to wider confrontation between Iran and the United States. The supporting material says the region has repeatedly struggled to resolve security disputes because its own arrangements have been incomplete, leaving room for outside powers to shape outcomes.

Sponsored

In that context, Oman is being cast as a state with a unique ability to mediate talks and test whether regional governments can agree on rules that make their disagreements less destructive. The proposal is therefore not only diplomatic, but also a response to the structural weakness of the current security order. The article also places the idea in the context of earlier attempts to revive regional dialogue.

In 2019, then Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif proposed a regional non-aggression pact with Gulf neighbours during a visit to Baghdad, and Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov endorsed it. Later that year, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani launched the Hormuz Peace Endeavour at the United Nations, also envisioning a non-aggression pact among Hormuz states. Gulf reactions were largely dismissive at the time, with concerns centred on Iranian support for armed groups seen as threatening regional stability.

What remains unclear is whether the latest Omani proposal can gain traction among states that have long disagreed over security guarantees and regional influence. The supporting material does not indicate any formal negotiations, timetable or official response from the other Gulf states. For now, the initiative appears to be a diplomatic opening rather than a concluded plan, and its prospects will depend on whether regional governments are willing to revisit a security model that includes both Iran and Iraq.

#Oman #Gulfsecurity #nonaggressionpact #Iran #UnitedStates