#Oman Seeks to Avoid Financial Gray List, With Iran Ties in Focus - Bloomberg

Oman Seeks to Avoid Financial Gray List, With Iran Ties in Focus - Bloomberg

Oman, a Gulf state known for its neutrality and close ties to both the US and Iran, is gearing up for a key review from a global watchdog on dirty money — hoping to avoid the fate of the neighboring United Arab Emirates.

A delegation from the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force is set to visit Muscat in late January, paving the way for a review later in 2024. After witnessing the UAE’s demotion to the so-called gray list in March 2022, Omani officials have been working to prevent a similar outcome.

Unlike the UAE, which adopted crypto-friendly policies and has a thriving luxury property market open to international investors, Oman’s economy is smaller and more conservative. That, coupled with recent oversight measures, makes Muscat well-positioned to avoid a gray-list designation, according to people familiar with the FATF proceedings.

Still, local officials acknowledge concerns over Oman’s ties to Iran, a country that’s facing significant US sanctions.

“The greatest vulnerability is our location,” central bank chief Tahir Al Amri said in a rare interview from his office in Muscat. “This is the main risk. It’s because of the relationship with Iran.”

The Omani leadership leveraged its close ties to Washington and Tehran during the Obama administration, hosting important diplomatic contacts that ultimately paved the way for the 2015 nuclear deal. Now, with conflicts swirling in the Middle East and Eastern Europe, Muscat’s geopolitical neutrality is set to come under the microscope.