Peace as Foreign Policy

Oman's foreign policy is aimed at good neighborly relations, non-intervention in the internal affairs of other states, and recognition of international laws and practices. As a non-aligned state, the sultanate seeks to use its opportunities to maintain peace. Saudi Arabia and Iran resumed their interrupted diplomatic relations after Oman arranged a meeting in Muscat in 1990.

Besides Sudan, Oman was the only Islamic state that did not break diplomatic relations with Egypt after the Camp David peace treaty between Israel and Egypt. In January 1996, representatives of Oman and Israel signed an agreement to set up commercial agencies in Muscat and Tel Aviv to develop the relationship between the two countries. However, due to the negative development after Rabin's death in 2000, the Omani side decided to freeze relations with Israel until Israel sincerely sought to continue the peace process.

A few days after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, Sultan Qaboos stated: "We support international counter-terrorism measures if they do not jeopardize individual nations and are not the cause of innocent people having to atone for actions they have nothing to do with, no matter in which Arab or Islamic country."

Oman's diplomats under the leadership of Sultan Qaboos are deployed worldwide to mediate in international crisis situations involving Arabs or Muslims.
Probably the most significant success of Omani secret diplomacy in conflict settlement to date has been the United States' convergence with Iran in the conflict over uranium enrichment plants in early April 2015.

The consistent adherence to a position of neutrality and the constant efforts to defuse conflicts in the region as well as in their own country have now more than paid off. While the rest of the Arab world seems to be sinking more and more in chaos, Oman remains a haven of calm and stability.