Oman’s Sultan arrives in Iran for a two-day visit

Oman’s Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said arrived in Tehran on Sunday for a two-day visit, semi-official Tasnim news agency reported, two days after Muscat mediated a prisoner swap between the Islamic Republic and Belgium.

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On Friday, Oman helped secure the release of a Belgian aid worker, who was arrested in 2022 and sentenced to 40 years in prison and 74 lashes on charges including spying, in exchange for an Iranian diplomat sentenced to 20 years in prison in connection with a failed bomb plot in France.

But dozens of foreigners and dual nationals remain in jail in Iran, most facing espionage and security-related accusations. Rights groups have criticized the arrests as a tactic by Tehran to win concessions from the West by inventing charges, which Tehran denies.

The visit takes place amid tensions between Iran and the West over Tehran’s nuclear program as well as allegations it is supplying drones for Russia’s war in Ukraine, plus the Islamic Republic’s human rights violations. Tehran denies selling drones to Moscow for use in the Ukraine war.

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