By: Dr Sulaiman Alfarsi
Mr. President, we are fully aware that the United States is living through a period of political pressure resulting from the ill-calculated war that the United States and its ally Israel launched against Iran. A war whose decision was easy for you and your team to make, but whose exit has become a difficult dilemma requiring enormous sacrifices and concessions. We understand that you face considerable pressure over the time consumed by negotiations to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz to international navigation — thereby easing the mounting strain on the global economy caused by its closure. We also know full well that you are subject to intense pressure from Israel and its supporting forces, who compel you to implement certain agendas in the Middle East in service of this unstable entity that operates outside the norms of international law and conventions.
You know very well, Mr. President, that the Sultanate of Oman strove earnestly to spare you from falling into this predicament until the very last moment. And despite your political betrayal of Oman in the early rounds of negotiations, it did not abandon its friendship with the United States, nor did it relinquish its hope of preventing this unnecessary war. Oman therefore sought, repeatedly and through its well-known diplomacy, to stand by its friends and to spare the region and the world from a war whose consequences it foresaw before it even began. Mr. President, your predecessors used to dispatch their envoys to Omani sultans to seek counsel before making fateful decisions in the region — and you may consult the archives of the U.S. State Department for the details you need in this regard.
Mr. President, the Sultanate of Oman is not merely a political entity in the region. It is a nation known to history, known to geography, known to statesmen, known to journalists, known to intellectuals, and known to all who have ever engaged with the Middle East. To issue verbal threats and exert the most extreme political pressure against it is therefore a grave sin. What makes it all the more regrettable is that your threats, Mr. President, came on the very day the U.S. Ambassador in Muscat congratulated the Omani people on the blessed Eid Al-Adha — stripping that congratulation of its meaning and emptying it of all substance. Nations, Mr. President, are not threatened — despite our full awareness of the vast disparity in power between your country and the Sultanate. Yet other powers throughout history, possessing great strength and might, once tested the mettle of the Omani people, and you may read in the history books what the Omanis did to the Persians and the Portuguese when they acted aggressively against them. We say this not as a threat — that is not the way of Oman and the Omani people — but simply to note that nations which have lived for thousands of years, survived successive eras of political coercion, and emerged intact to the present day are fully capable of withstanding any pressure or coercion imposed upon them.
With this as backdrop, we return to say that your statement, Mr. President, is a grave error. Oman — which extended its hand in friendship to the United States for centuries, and which at the same time stood against Persian aggression in Basra, Bahrain, and Oman itself — is the very same nation that has extended its hand of friendship to the great American people time and again, in many political crises and difficult, sensitive situations. It is the same nation that worked tirelessly to bring Iran and the United States closer together. This makes clear that the Sultanate of Oman is a state that forgives former adversaries when they reform, and at the same time does not flatter its friends when they are in the wrong. It is a state of independence, of right, of neutrality, and of honesty. Its relations are built on sound foundations and authentic historical norms. It does not deviate from justice nor stray from what is correct — and this is precisely what has earned it great trust and respect worldwide.
Mr. President, we reiterate that the United States of America and the American people are friends of the Omani state and the Omani nation. We deeply regret seeing a hostile statement emanate from the very apex of American political leadership. We assure you, Mr. President — if your concern is the Strait of Hormuz crisis and coordination among the states bordering the strait — that Oman does not deceive and does not adopt unlawful positions. Throughout this crisis over the past two months, Oman has remained a refuge for many countries of the world seeking to move their vessels through the strait, doing so through its relationships and diplomacy. Oman is therefore a friend to the world and an enemy to none — while simultaneously enjoying an independent and neutral decision-making process that serves the collective international interest.
In closing, Mr. President, we recognize that your statement was made in a passing moment, and we are confident that President Donald Trump fully understands the neutral and humanitarian role that the Sultanate of Oman plays in most of the region’s complex issues. We hope that your statement amounts to nothing more than passing words that do not undermine the bonds of historical friendship between our two countries — and that the United States will continue to benefit, particularly in the Middle East, from Oman’s measured, trusted, and neutral role.
