Oman Rejects Claims of Establishing Ties With Zionist Regime
MUSCAT (Dispatches) – Oman has dismissed as "baseless” the Zionist regime’s claims that the Persian Gulf sultanate is establishing diplomatic ties with the Tel Aviv regime.
In a statement published on its official Twitter page on Tuesday, the Omani Foreign Ministry reacted to comments by the head of the Mossad intelligence service, who had said a day earlier the regime was renewing ties with Oman.
"The Sultanate is keen to exert all efforts to create favorable diplomatic conditions to restore contacts between all international and regional parties to work towards achieving peace between the Palestinian Authority and … Israel, leading to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state,” the Omani Foreign Ministry said in the statement.
The head of the Zionist regime’s spy agency Mossad had said that the occupying regime was renewing ties with Oman, adding that a representative office of the Israeli foreign ministry will open in the Persian Gulf.
Speaking at the Herzliya Conference, Yossi Cohen said "Just recently, renewal of formal relations with Oman was declared and the establishment of a representative office of the foreign ministry in that country.”
"That is only the visible tip of a much broader secret effort,” he added.
Jordan and Egypt are the only two Arab states that have diplomatic ties with the regime. However, reports have indicated that several of them, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, have had secret relations with Tel Aviv.
"We do not yet have with them (Arab states) official peace treaties but there is already a communality of interests, broad cooperation and open channels of communication,” Cohen said.
The Zionist regime and Oman agreed to open trade representative offices in the 1990s, but in 2000, the Persian Gulf sultanate shut them down after the outbreak of the second Palestinian intifada (uprising).
Zionist Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met Oman’s Sultan Qaboos in Muscat last October. The controversial visit was kept secret until after the Zionist premier returned to the occupied territories.
On Wednesday, Oman announced plans to open an embassy in Palestine in support of the Palestinian people, in a first for a Persian Gulf state.
Hanan Ashrawi, a senior official of the Palestine Liberation Organization, welcomed Muscat’s decision, saying "I hope the embassy will help in educating the Omani government on the real nature of the Israeli occupation.”
She, however, warned Oman against using its mission to establish formal ties with Tel Aviv, saying, "If this has a political price attached then certainly there will be ramifications.”
The Zionist regime and the Persian Gulf Arab regimes have dramatically increased their contacts since late June, when Bahrain hosted a U.S.-led conference where the "economic” part of President Donald Trump’s "peace” plan for the Middle East was unveiled.
The recent moves towards normalization of ties have angered Palestinians, who see them as an attempt to liquidate the Palestinian cause.
Meanwhile, the Zionist foreign minister, Yisrael Katz, has visited the United Arab Emirates, where he met and held talks with senior authorities as a number of Arab countries in the Persian Gulf region do not shy away from disclosing their clandestine relations with the Tel Aviv following years of secretive contacts.
Katz arrived in Abu Dhabi for a UN environmental conference, where he discussed cooperation against Iran, as well as economic and transport collaboration, Israeli i24NEWS television news network reported.
In a statement published on its official Twitter page on Tuesday, the Omani Foreign Ministry reacted to comments by the head of the Mossad intelligence service, who had said a day earlier the regime was renewing ties with Oman.
"The Sultanate is keen to exert all efforts to create favorable diplomatic conditions to restore contacts between all international and regional parties to work towards achieving peace between the Palestinian Authority and … Israel, leading to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state,” the Omani Foreign Ministry said in the statement.
The head of the Zionist regime’s spy agency Mossad had said that the occupying regime was renewing ties with Oman, adding that a representative office of the Israeli foreign ministry will open in the Persian Gulf.
Speaking at the Herzliya Conference, Yossi Cohen said "Just recently, renewal of formal relations with Oman was declared and the establishment of a representative office of the foreign ministry in that country.”
"That is only the visible tip of a much broader secret effort,” he added.
Jordan and Egypt are the only two Arab states that have diplomatic ties with the regime. However, reports have indicated that several of them, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, have had secret relations with Tel Aviv.
"We do not yet have with them (Arab states) official peace treaties but there is already a communality of interests, broad cooperation and open channels of communication,” Cohen said.
The Zionist regime and Oman agreed to open trade representative offices in the 1990s, but in 2000, the Persian Gulf sultanate shut them down after the outbreak of the second Palestinian intifada (uprising).
Zionist Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met Oman’s Sultan Qaboos in Muscat last October. The controversial visit was kept secret until after the Zionist premier returned to the occupied territories.
On Wednesday, Oman announced plans to open an embassy in Palestine in support of the Palestinian people, in a first for a Persian Gulf state.
Hanan Ashrawi, a senior official of the Palestine Liberation Organization, welcomed Muscat’s decision, saying "I hope the embassy will help in educating the Omani government on the real nature of the Israeli occupation.”
She, however, warned Oman against using its mission to establish formal ties with Tel Aviv, saying, "If this has a political price attached then certainly there will be ramifications.”
The Zionist regime and the Persian Gulf Arab regimes have dramatically increased their contacts since late June, when Bahrain hosted a U.S.-led conference where the "economic” part of President Donald Trump’s "peace” plan for the Middle East was unveiled.
The recent moves towards normalization of ties have angered Palestinians, who see them as an attempt to liquidate the Palestinian cause.
Meanwhile, the Zionist foreign minister, Yisrael Katz, has visited the United Arab Emirates, where he met and held talks with senior authorities as a number of Arab countries in the Persian Gulf region do not shy away from disclosing their clandestine relations with the Tel Aviv following years of secretive contacts.
Katz arrived in Abu Dhabi for a UN environmental conference, where he discussed cooperation against Iran, as well as economic and transport collaboration, Israeli i24NEWS television news network reported.