Increased Iran attacks test Oman's long-held neutrality

Tehran has increased its attacks on its neighbour Oman as it seeks to control the Strait of Hormuz, provoking a more strident tone from a sultanate with a long-held policy of neutrality, analysts said.

A historic mediator between Tehran and its foes that shares control of the strategic waterway with Iran, Oman has been caught in an impossible equation.

Muscat has traditionally sought good ties with a neighbour which is now attacking it, without angering Washington, which has accused it of being too close to Tehran.

In the past weeks, Iran has hit tankers using a route hugging the Omani coast to traverse the strait, in a bid to strongarm vessels into using its own waters -- and paying for safe passage.

It has also struck targets on Omani territory, prompting a rare summoning of its ambassador in Muscat which, unlike its Gulf neighbours, has kept good ties with Iran during the war despite the bombings.

"The Iran war has placed Oman in an impossible position," said Anna Jacobs, a non-resident fellow at the Arab Gulf States Institute.

"Iran's new leadership needs to understand that they are alienating the last relatively friendly partner they have in the Gulf. The Iranians are overplaying their hand and trying to assert full control over the Strait of Hormuz, including in Omani territorial waters. Oman will not accept this."

On Monday, Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei listed Oman -- along with Qatar and Pakistan -- as a mediator with which Tehran hoped to work to prevent any escalation in the conflict.

But Qatar and Pakistan are now seen as the key interlocutors in the negotiations, rather than Oman.

For Omani researcher Abdullah Baabood, the summoning of Iran's ambassador "sends a message to the international community and Gulf partners that Omani neutrality does not equate to silence when it comes to national security threats".

Oman, he added, "draws a distinction between maintaining diplomatic relations and tolerating any violation of its sovereignty".

- Tanker hit -

During the war, Iran blockaded the strait through which one-fifth of the world's oil and LNG used to pass.

As part of a memorandum of understanding with the United States, it has to work with Oman on the waterway's future administration -- which it has vowed will never be the same.

In June, Oman and Iran said they would discuss imposing service fees, a move Washington opposes.

Muscat now says ships could transit Hormuz via its waters, angering Tehran, which responded with a pattern of escalation.

Tehran began hitting ships transiting through the route, prompting Washington to retaliate with attacks on Iran, which has in turn struck the Gulf.

On Tuesday, a Norwegian tanker was hit by an explosion caused by an unidentified device off the Omani coast, crisis response company MTI Network said.

The explosion triggered a fire in the ship's engine room, but an MTI Network spokesman added that the crew "fortunately are all safe and accounted for".

Separately, the UAE defence ministry said two tankers transiting Hormuz through Omani waters had been hit by Iranian cruise missiles, in strikes that killed at least one.

On the other side of the strait, Oman's neighbours the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain have directly accused Iran of being behind the attacks on shipping -- which Oman has never done.

"Oman wishes to maintain a stable relationship with Tehran, because of its geography and shared interests, but it cannot overlook any aggression that infringes upon its sovereignty," Baabood said.

"Should attacks persist, we are likely to see a hardening of its diplomatic rhetoric, a strengthening of defence and security measures in coordination with partners, and closer alignment with the positions of the rest of the Gulf."