Oman Fights Saudi Bid for Gulf Hegemony With Iran Pipeline Plan - Bloomberg

Oman Fights Saudi Bid for Gulf Hegemony With Iran Pipeline Plan - Bloomberg:



"

Photographer: Mohammed Mahjoub/AFP/Getty Images

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, left, and Oman's leader Sultan Qaboos Bin Said.

Oman’s plan to build a $1 billion natural-gas pipeline from Iran is the latest sign that Saudi Arabia is failing to bind its smaller Gulf neighbors into a tighter bloc united in hostility to the Islamic Republic.



The accord was signed during Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s visit to Oman last month, and marks the first such deal between Iran and a Gulf Cooperation Council state in more than a decade. Oman is in good standing with the U.S. too: a $2.1 billion purchase of air-defense systems from Raytheon Inc. was announced during a visit by Secretary of State John Kerry last year. Oman, led by 73-year-old Sultan Qaboos Bin Said Al-Said, hosted secret talks between the U.S. and Iran in the run-up to November’s Geneva agreement, Foreign Minister Yusuf Bin Alawi Bin Abdullah told al-Hayat newspaper this week."



'via Blog this'