The man behind secret US-Iran talks: Sultan Qaboos
| Jerusalem
He doesn鈥檛 exactly have the typical diplomat鈥檚 resum茅: Overthrew father in a coup; travels with his own orchestra; and comes from a country that until relatively recently didn鈥檛 have newspapers.
But Sultan Qaboos bin Said, the monarch of Oman since 1970, reportedly played a key role in facilitating the secret US-Iran talks leading up to today鈥檚 鈥渉istoric鈥� nuclear deal, . His involvement offers a reminder of the colorful deal-making, sometimes by unlikely characters, that has long been an integral part of the Middle Eastern landscape.
Sultan Qaboos was educated first in India and then at Britian鈥檚 Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst 鈥撀爐hat venerable institution that claims among its diverse alumni Winston Churchill, King George Tupou V of Tonga, and Maj. Allan Cameron, a Scot who helped establish the International Curling Federation.
His worldly education may help explain how the sultan became something of a renaissance man. Not only does he play the organ and lute himself, but in 1985 he established what may be the Arab world鈥檚 only homegrown symphony orchestra.
He is also credited with gradually modernizing the country and improving education. Oman鈥檚 first newspaper was established a year after he took over, and while the country still has limited press freedom and the sultan has struggled to mollify a restive youth population, it鈥檚 generally seen as more liberal than some of its neighbors.
Robert Kaplan, a writer for the Atlantic who visited the country before the Arab upheavals of 2011, wrote that he had 鈥渘ever encountered a place in the Arab world so well-governed as Oman, and in such a quiet and understated way,鈥� .听听
Perhaps part of the difference stems from the fact that Oman is isolated from much of the rest of the Arabian peninsula by a formidable mountain range, while聽Iran is just across the narrow Strait of Hormuz, a critical waterway for global oil shipments that has at times raised tensions between the US and Iran.
As early as 2009, according to Wikileaks, the sultanate offered to arrange talks between the US and Iran 鈥� which hadn鈥檛 had diplomatic relations for 30 years 鈥� on condition that they were kept quiet to avoid 鈥�.鈥� But it was reportedly the hostage crisis of three American 鈥渉ikers鈥� that brought him into a mediating role between the two sides and helped win the release of Sarah Shroud, Shane Bauer, and Josh Fattal, who were arrested 聽and accused of spying聽while hiking along the Iran-Iraq border.
With that success in his pocket, he offered to facilitate a US-Iran rapprochement, the AP reports. In March, US and Iranian officials met in Oman, Secretary of State John Kerry followed up in May, and the talks took on a momentum of their own after Hassan Rouhani replaced Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Iran鈥檚 June elections.
Sultan Qaboos wasn鈥檛 in front of the cameras in Geneva, nor were there any missives from Oman today trumpeting his success. But he is no doubt enjoying the fruits of his work, perhaps over a cup of British tea with Mozart playing in the background.
