Earlier this month, Sultan Qabus, Oman's ruler, came to Iran and met with Ahmadinejad in a visit that was supposed to boost "historic ties" betweent the two nations.
Oman and Iran certainly do have historic ties, but there's speculation about what was really going on.
The site claims that David Miliband, the British foreign secretary, has also sent messages to one of our senior Iranian officials in which he has voiced his desire to negotiate with Iran. So far, the Iranian side has not given a positive response to this message according to Ayandeh.
Nor was this some little tete-a-tete over tea and cakes. According to other sources, the Omani delegation consisted of:
- Sayyid Ali bin Hamoud al Busaidi, Minister of the Diwan of Royal Court,
- Gen. Ali bin Majid al Ma'amari, Minister of the Royal Office,
- Yousef bin Alawi bin Abdullah, Minister Responsible for Foreign Affairs,
- Ahmed bin Abdulnabi Macki, Minister of National Economy and Supervisor of the Finance Ministry,
- Abdulaziz bin Mohammed al Rowas, the Sultan's Adviser for Cultural Affairs,
- Lt. Gen. Malik bin Sulaiman al Ma'amari, Inspector General of Police and Customs,
- Dr. Ali bin Mohammed bin Moosa, Minister of Health,
- Maqbool bin Ali Sultan, Minister of Commerce and Industry,
- Dr. Mohammed bin Hamed al Rumhi, Minister of Oil and Gas,
- Sheikh Yahya bin Abdullah al Fanah al Oraimi, Sultanate's ambassador to the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Who knows whether any of this is true or not. It could be, for example, an attempt by the reformists to taint Ahmadinejad as secretly working in league with the Evil British Colonialists that the regime has blamed for the recent disturbances in Iran. Or, it could be true. I don't know. I'm hungry. What's for lunch?
Comments