Oman, Iran sign trade deals during president visit

Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi arrived in Oman on Monday, as the two countries signed a slew of trade agreements and as international talks on Tehran’s nuclear program stalled, leaving the Islamic republic sanctioned.

Raisi, on his second Gulf visit since taking office in August, was greeted at the airport by Sultan Haitham bin Tareq and received a 21-gun salute at the royal palace, according to an Omani statement.

Raisi’s one-day trip comes as renewed talks to restore a 2015 nuclear deal have reached a stalemate. In the run-up to the original agreement, Oman served as a go-between for Tehran and Washington.

The countries signed 12 memoranda of understanding during the visit, including in the fields of oil and gas, transport, education, trade and investment, reported the official Oman News Agency.

“Trade exchanges between the two countries of Oman and Iran will improve definitely,” Raisi said before departure, according to Iran’s state news agency IRNA.

“Both countries are determined to upgrade the level of political and economic ties,” he added.

A delegation of 50 Iranian businessmen traveled to Oman last week, IRNA said, adding that Iran’s minister for roads and urban development has announced plans for a joint shipping line and tourist flights.

Oman is also seeking to import gas from Iran by building an offshore pipeline between the two countries, which are discussing the development of joint gas fields offshore.

The sultanate, which faces Iran across the Gulf of Oman, endured economic pain during the pandemic, with its GDP dropping 6.4 percent in 2020 and government debt soaring. It saw rare protests over high unemployment and lay-offs last year.

Raisi visited Qatar in February, where he met with Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani and attended a gas exporting countries conference.

Stop-start talks began in April last year to bring Iran back to the 2015 deal that limited its nuclear ambitions in exchange for sanctions relief, which was abandoned by former US President Donald Trump in 2018.