Oman calls for security framework, non-aggression pact among 8 Gulf states including Iran

Oman's Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi has called for a regional security framework that incorporates Iran and a "non-aggression pact" among the eight Gulf states, including Iran, during a speech at Girton College at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom. Albusaidi urged the regional countries to assume greater responsibility for their own security, emphasizing that dependence on external powers had persisted for too long.

He warned that excluding Iran from any regional security arrangement would render it "inherently unstable" and "structurally unsound." Albusaidi stated that a Non-Aggression Pact among all eight states, comprising the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) members, Iraq, and Iran, should be the ultimate objective, irrespective of whether they are friendly or hostile to Iran.

He highlighted that prewar US-Iran nuclear talks had made "significant progress," and the essential components for such an agreement still existed, should both parties choose to resume negotiations. Oman and Iran have been engaged in consultations to restore free navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, but political hurdles remain.

Albusaidi stressed that achieving such an arrangement would require both Iran and the United States to make compromises and reach a pragmatic understanding.