In an interview with Tasnim News Agency on 28 December, Iranian Ambassador to Oman Ali Najafi Khoshroudi said that the value of annual trade between Iran and Oman has increased by 73 percent over the past eight months and is expected to reach $2 billion by March of 2023.

During a visit to Muscat on the same day, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian met with Sultan Haitham bin Tariq and other Omani officials at the Al-Baraka Palace and handed over a written letter from President Ebrahim Raisi. The letter highlighted the growth of bilateral relations and deepening of cooperation between Iran and Oman in several fields.

Najafi highlighted that Iran and Oman are focused primarily on four fields of cooperation – trade and investment, energy, transportation, and banking.

Among those who attended the meeting were Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr Albusaidi, Minister of the Omani Royal Office Gen. Sultan Mohammed Al Nuamani, and Amir-Abdollahian’s accompanying delegation.

Times of Oman reported that apart from joint cooperation, the officials also exchanged their respective viewpoints on both regional and international developments.

Additionally, the Iranian foreign minister stressed the significance of the mutual agreements reached during President Raisi’s visit to Oman back in May, and emphasized the need to proceed with their full implementation.

In the same month as Raisi’s visit, Iran announced the revival of an undersea gas pipeline project between Iran and Oman.

In July, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani held talks with Albusaidi to discuss regional and international developments in Muscat. The deputy foreign minister said that Oman and Iran shared mutual trust, referring to it as a “precious asset” that will strengthen the bilateral cooperation of the two nations.

A year earlier, in July of 2021, Iran inaugurated an oil terminal in the Sea of Oman, bypassing the Strait of Hormuz, in a strategic move to neutralize the impact of US sanctions on Iranian oil shipments abroad.

Oman is the only GCC member that has strong diplomatic relations with the Islamic Republic, and has played a major role in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, serving as a center for regional dialogue.