As it has done at similar junctures, Omani diplomacy moved to extinguish the flames of disputes that have recently flared between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, following an airstrike carried out by fighter jets of the Saudi-backed “Coalition to Support Legitimacy” on Yemen’s port of Mukalla.
Oman’s Foreign Minister Badr bin Hamad Al Busaidi met on Wednesday in Riyadh with his Saudi counterpart, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, to discuss containing the escalation in Yemen and easing tensions between Riyadh and Abu Dhabi.
The Oman News Agency said the meeting addressed ongoing efforts to contain the escalation, ways to tackle the root causes of the crisis in Yemen, and achieving a settlement that takes into account the aspirations of Yemenis and the supreme national security interests of neighboring states and the wider region.
The move was preceded by a statement issued Tuesday by Oman’s Foreign Ministry on developments in Yemen, in which he called for “restraint and the prioritization of wisdom,” and urged the pursuit of consensual political solutions in the country.
Oman’s approach is rooted in the need to preserve Yemen’s unity and sovereignty and to reject turning it into an arena for conflict and score-settling among internal or external actors—an approach that has received the “blessing” of many Omani elites and influencers in digital spaces.
Saudi-Emirati Differences
Official discourse and popular engagement in Oman regarding developments in Yemen have converged around a single theme: the need to move toward solutions and avoid adopting an escalatory tone toward the ongoing crisis between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
In this context, a post by writer Zakariya Al-Muharrami on the platform X drew attention. He called for “stemming bloodshed and preserving bonds of kinship,” expressing hope for the withdrawal of all foreign forces from Yemeni territory, an end to regional states’ arming of militias, and a shift toward a diplomatic negotiating process sponsored by Saudi Arabia and Oman as Yemen’s neighboring states.
This proposal notably excludes the United Arab Emirates from any role in sponsoring the negotiating process, confining that role to a Saudi-Omani framework viewed as most directly exposed to the repercussions of the Yemeni crisis.
In a less confrontational tone, academic Dr. Abdullah Baabood offered an approach focusing on the institutional dimension of Gulf disputes. In a post on X, he stressed that disagreements among Gulf states should not affect the trajectory of the Gulf Cooperation Council, calling for a review of the council’s charter and the activation of its dispute-settlement body.
This view aligns with arguments advanced by Omani writer Khamis bin Obaid Al-Qatiti in an article published in the Omani newspaper Al-Watan, in which he warned that “Gulf public opinion is no longer able to bear any new mistakes or crises among neighboring states, given how they fuel the appetite of external media and vested interests to inflame them, compounding serious negative consequences for Gulf relations.”
For its part, official media coverage reflected a clear degree of restraint. The newspapers Al-Ru’ya and Oman carried no direct coverage of the dispute, in a notable alignment with a policy aimed at lowering tensions and avoiding the expansion of public controversy.
Limits of Omani Engagement
Oman has not been immune to the reverberations of the Yemeni crisis, particularly as its name has repeatedly surfaced in statements by some Yemeni figures and factions in various contexts.
In this regard, Khalid bin Salem Al-Ghassani, a former adviser at the Ministry of Heritage and Culture and director of the Culture Department at the Gulf Cooperation Council, stressed in an article published in Al-Ru’ya that mentioning the Omani region of Sarfait in any mobilizing rhetoric by any Yemeni party—official or otherwise—is unacceptable.
Al-Ghassani wrote: “When Aidarous Al-Zubaidi, the head of the so-called Southern Transitional Council in Yemen, comes out and explicitly says ‘from the Red Sea to the Arabian Sea to the east, to Sarfait,’ the matter goes beyond political and mobilizing rhetoric for his supporters and turns into an outright transgression against sovereign Omani land, which allows no interpretation, metaphor, or leniency in response.”
This opens the door to broader questions about Oman’s position regarding developments in southern Yemen, particularly amid escalating disputes and confrontations between Saudi Arabia and the Southern Transitional Council.
In this context, Omani journalist Hamad bin Saeed Al-Sawafi told the Alhurra website that events unfolding in southern Yemen cannot be separated from struggles over influence, economics, and maritime corridors stretching from the Horn of Africa to the Red Sea and the Gulf.
Al-Sawafi said the governorates of Al-Mahra and Hadramawt “represent an extremely sensitive zone for Oman, with Al-Mahra forming the sultanate’s eastern geostrategic and security depth. Any unilateral military movements in these governorates are viewed as a threat to stable areas and a departure from the framework of the state and legitimacy.”
He concluded that “the multiplicity of tracks and objectives among some Yemeni actors has contributed to complicating the scene and imposing additional burdens on the path of legitimacy.”
Omani Neutrality under Test
Writer and political and strategic affairs researcher Dr. Mohammed Al-Araimi said the current phase represents a genuine test of the role Oman has historically been known for as a calm and effective mediator in regional crises.
With the simultaneous escalation of tensions in eastern Yemen and the intertwining of files involving the Houthis, the Southern Transitional Council, and other regional actors, Muscat finds itself facing a complex equation.
Al-Araimi said this balancing act “is based on keeping channels of communication open with all parties while avoiding any political alignment that could undermine the sultanate’s position as a trusted mediator, while at the same time ensuring the protection of its border security and internal stability—making the preservation of this role increasingly complex in a highly fluid regional environment.”
Compounding the challenges for Oman is the fact that Al-Mahra governorate has come under the dominance of organized political and military forces with regional ties, after having remained for years an arena of regulated tribal influence.
Addressing the situation in eastern Yemen, Al-Araimi noted that “the divergence between the Saudi and Emirati tracks reflects a difference in strategic bets more than it reflects a direct contradiction in positions.
Sukina Ali
A Saudi writer, researcher, and TV presenter
