today arrived in Iran to a flurry of fawning official Iranian press releases about how great everything is between Iran and Oman.
I would recommend President Barak Obama pay us a visit here in Oman soon and get a debrief, and some good advice...
See:
Sultan Visits ,
Sultan of Oman in Iran on landmark visit ,
Ahmadinejad Welcomes Sultan Qaboos in Tehran ,
Iran, Oman eye joint security cooperation ,
Iran Ready to Start Gas Exports to Oman ,
Iran, Oman Underline Expansion of Cooperation ...
Timing is pretty near damn perfect for Oman. Iran is increasingly isolated and desperate in the region and the world - except for China and Russia, who aren't exactly what I'd call 'true' friends of Iran. (Oh, don't forget Qatar).
Oman and Iran share the straits of Hormuz and have a long history (The ex-Shah supported Oman's Government with troops during the civil war and we have lots of Shia emigres from Iran)...
For HM to dignify Ahmadinejad and his overlords with such a heavy hitting visit on the very day of his controversial inauguration, given recent history, should be costing Iran a big, big favour in return.
They have a gas field we could use, if the price is reasonable (anything less than $4/Mscf would be great) and we can get Chinese financing (in exchange for say, some LNG cargos).
And there are lots of other nice issues that could be co-operated on: security (see pirates, straits), economy (see gas, trade, screwed Iranian economy), region (hey; why not stop trying to get Gulf Islands, Iran).
Lets see. But Iran must be feeling pretty grateful.
Glad to see HM is also using his beautiful boat too, arriving a the Southern Port and then just flying up for the visit to Tehran.
That's so cool.
I agree we need a closer friendship or relations with Iran. The geography and security demand it. By having someone of the stature of HM making friends and bridges I can see Obama having a visit here and lets face it this is the best, most stable and friendliest of Arabic countries so it would make sense to come here.
ReplyDeleteLets hope.
It would be a good play politically for Obama to visit with HM - but I'd hazard a guess it's more likely that a senior aide would visit, perhaps Hilary?
ReplyDeleteIf Dragon can send Mrs Dragon into Omani Attestation Office, why can't Obama send Hillary into Iranian Office.
ReplyDeleteOoops- cross threaded here,
''Mrs Dragon''...I love that. DA do you refer to her as that and do you have the bruises to show for it ;-)
ReplyDelete