Oman Proposes Eight-State Gulf Non-Aggression Pact Including Iran

Oman's Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi proposed a collective Gulf security framework with a non-aggression pact as its goal, bringing together Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. He outlined the proposal in a lecture at Girton College, University of Cambridge, on Monday, October 26, discussing regional security after the war involving Iran, Israel and the United States. Albusaidi said, “A Non-Aggression Pact between all eight states should be the goal.” He argued that arrangements excluding Iran could not provide lasting regional stability. He called for Gulf governments to take greater responsibility for their security, while saying this did not require abandoning partnerships with powers outside the region. The minister also said high-level Omani discussions and technical consultations with Iran had produced an outline for temporary arrangements to restore navigation through the Strait of Hormuz. Political obstacles remained, he said, and implementation required Washington and Tehran to compromise. He maintained that the basic elements for a US-Iran nuclear agreement were still available, although returning to negotiations had become difficult. Albusaidi recalled a November 1976 meeting in Muscat that brought together foreign ministers from the same eight states to discuss collective security. He urged renewed regional dialogue, with maritime arrangements among the issues to address, and described a wider pact as an objective that would require difficult negotiations.