Oman’s foreign minister criticises US policy in Iran conflict and urges de-escalation

Oman’s foreign minister has delivered an unusually blunt rebuke of Washington’s handling of the war with Iran, arguing that the conflict represents a profound strategic error and urging America’s partners to press for an immediate end to hostilities. According to The Independent, Badr Albusaidi wrote in The Economist that the United States has been drawn into a fight that “is not America’s war” and called the intervention President Donald Trump has backed “the American a...

Albusaidi, long a discreet mediator between Tehran and Washington, warned that neither the United States nor Israel will likely secure their declared goals through military means. “This is not America’s war, and there is no likely scenario in which both Israel and America will get what they want from it,” he wrote, adding that Israel’s aim of overthrowing the Islamic Republic would demand a protracted ground campaign and a level of American troop commitment that the US government and public do not want.

The Omani minister framed Iran’s retaliatory attacks , including strikes on oil and gas facilities that rattled global energy markets and several incidents that struck Omani shipping and infrastructure , as a foreseeable, if regrettable, consequence of the broader campaign. “Faced with what both Israel and America described as a war designed to terminate the Islamic Republic, this was probably the only rational option available to the Iranian leadership,” he said, in language reported by The Independent.

Albusaidi’s intervention comes after months in which Oman hosted indirect talks between US and Iranian officials. Al Jazeera reported that those mediated negotiations in Muscat and later rounds led by Omani facilitation achieved breakthroughs, with Iran reportedly agreeing not to stockpile enriched uranium and negotiators describing discussions as “positive.” Oman’s role as an intermediary included meetings with senior US figures; Al Jazeera noted that Albusaidi met Vice-President J D Vance in Washington and has engaged with US envoys including Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.

Yet the diplomatic progress that Omani officials described as bringing “off-ramps” and possible comprehensive resolution was overtaken by military strikes that have deepened regional divisions. The Guardian reported claims that an Israeli attack on Iran’s largest gasfield , South Pars , exacerbated tensions and fueled accusations among Gulf allies that Washington’s policy has been influenced by Israeli objectives. US president Donald Trump said he had not been informed of that strike in advance, a statement Israeli officials disputed, according to The Guardian.

The fallout has tested transatlantic unity. European leaders have been reluctant to join any military effort to reopen the Strait of Hormuz after Tehran moved to block the vital shipping lane, with Germany’s chancellor ruling out participation and the UK’s prime minister saying Britain would not be “drawn into the wider war” while stressing the need to keep oil supplies stable. Industry data and commentary at the time showed oil markets reacting sharply to attacks on energy infrastructure across the Gulf.

Oman’s appeals for a ceasefire and a return to diplomacy reflect both its role as a conduit for talks and a wider regional alarm at the conflict’s escalation. Al Jazeera quoted Albusaidi urging immediate cessation of hostilities and the use of available diplomatic “off-ramps.” The Omani foreign minister emphasised that the mediation track had produced tangible advances and warned that military escalation would undo those gains.

The dispute over whether Washington was forewarned of Israeli operations highlights a deeper fissure: allies are increasingly accusing each other of allowing narrow strategic aims to determine actions with far-reaching consequences. According to reporting in The Guardian, some US and Gulf officials believe Israeli efforts aimed at regime change in Tehran have steered American policy into confrontational territory for which there is little domestic appetite in the United States.

Albusaidi’s critique is notable for its directness. In urging American partners to press the administration to withdraw from the military course it has embraced, he sought to reframe the conflict as one from which the United States should disentangle itself and return to negotiations that, until recently, showed signs of producing a diplomatic settlement. With attacks continuing and energy markets on edge, Oman’s call for urgent de-escalation underscores both the fragility of the region and the diplomatic channels that some Gulf states say remain available to avert further catastrophe.

Source: Noah Wire Services