Sayyid Badr meets editors-in-chief: Oman does not provide any facilities in this war

Muscat: Sayyid Badr al Busaidi, the Foreign Minister, during his meeting with the head of the Government Communication (GC) and Performance Development Unit (PDU), and the Editors-in-Chief of Oman News Agency, newspapers, and Omani radio stations, reviewed the latest regional developments.

He emphasized the importance of addressing these developments with honesty, objectivity, high professionalism, and responsibility, in line with Oman's established approach.

He expressed his appreciation for the balanced Omani media discourse and his pride in Omani media professionals for their confident and competent coverage of events, without offending any party, exaggeration, or negligence. "This contributes to consolidating public awareness, instilling reassurance, promoting the values of professional responsibility and protecting national interests".

The Foreign Ministry affirmed the Sultanate of Oman’s solidarity with our brothers and neighbours in the GCC, as well as Jordan, Iraq, and Lebanon, facing violations of their sovereignty and attacks on their territories and infrastructure.

The Foreign Minister believed that the war may end soon, as there is strong opposition within the United States to the idea of entering into another war.

The meeting reviewed, and the importance of dealing with the current situation with honesty, objectivity, professionalism, and responsibility was emphasized, in line with the recognized Omani approach.

He said, Oman's view that the military attacks against Iran by the United States and Israel are illegal, and that for as long as they continue to pursue hostilities, those states that launched this war remain in breach of international law.

"This is a very important aspect of the present situation, which can too easily be forgotten, especially as we all try to deal with repercussions in the form of Iranian retaliation across the region. But it should not be forgotten, least of all by us, because our own security depends on international law being observed and upheld.

The American and Israeli attacks on Iran are the latest in a very dangerous sequence of violations in recent years. They threaten irreversible damage to the international legal framework that has protected us in the past.

Indeed, the serious repercussions we are now all facing are themselves a clear example of what happens when international law is ignored, he said.

It is a crisis that could very soon get much worse. Our region faces the prospect of ever greater humanitarian disasters and loss of life, along with serious economic and environmental damage.

If the conflict is prolonged towards the outcomes that the United States and Israel are indicating that they seek, we may witness a partial or even a complete collapse of state capacity in a nearby country of over 90 million people.

"We have responded to the violations of our sovereignty proportionately and responsibly, in keeping with our shared commitment to de-escalation, seeking peaceful solutions to conflict, and abiding by international law. We believe that maintaining a measured response by the GCC states to these deplorable attacks is important. It is important because it breaks a cycle of escalation and reasserts that we do respect international law even when others do not."

" We are still living with the consequences of what happened in Iraq after 2003. The effects of a similar disintegration in Iran are difficult to predict in detail, but easy to recognise as a grave long-term threat to our own stability and security. That is why Oman continues to urge diplomacy."

Iran is open to diplomatic initiatives under the right circumstances

There are signs that, under the right circumstances, Iran would be open to a diplomatic initiative, although their present situation requires that its leadership present uncompromising rhetoric and retaliatory action in the face of American and Israeli aggression.

The right circumstances for a diplomatic initiative, therefore, need to be created. An internationally mandated ceasefire would create them, and Oman will continue to lobby internationally in support of one.

The real challenge, however, will be to persuade the US and Israel that both their own interests and the long-term stability of the region can only really be served by a diplomatic solution. The aims of regional security and nuclear non-proliferation –which ultimately coincide with the long-term interests of both the US and Israel – cannot be achieved by violence.

"We know that there will be significant resistance in Washington and among the American people to the idea of the United States getting entangled again in a prolonged war. It is reasonable to assume that senior military and intelligence officials will argue against this, and that American public opinion will remain, as it is now, firmly against war."

The voices of military and intelligence experts combined with the effects of public opinion may encourage political leaders in Washington to develop and execute an exit strategy before committing their troops to a war, which, they must realise, is not even their war. Their voices, therefore, need to be encouraged and amplified.

Israel may see the situation very differently. Israel may calculate that a seriously weakened Iran, or even Iran experiencing the total collapse of its state functions, would serve its interests very well. The consequences for us, as Iran's immediate neighbours, however, would be very dangerous indeed.

"While our diplomatic efforts should engage with all parties, our best chance of success lies in a concerted effort to influence American policy, to persuade its leaders that they need to avoid getting sucked deeper into this war, and that only a return to diplomacy offers a solution to the root causes of this conflict."