ISLAMABAD – The southeastern Arabian nation of Oman has penned an agreementwith Washington allowing US warships and aircraft to enjoy access to twoof its Arabian Sea ports, the state-run Oman News Agency has reported.
The agreement, signed in Muscat on Sunday, provided US Navy ships,including carrier groups, with access to the ports of Duqm and Salalah,with the former situated just 500 km from the Strait of Hormuz waterway,through which over 30 per cent of the world’s seaborne crude oil passeson route to customers around the globe.
The US Embassy in Oman praised the agreement, saying it “reaffirms thecommitment of both countries to promoting mutual security goals,” with anunnamed US official adding that the Duqm port in particular was “veryattractive,” given its “geostrategic location,” as well as its abilityto host massive US carrier groups.
The official mentioned US worries over Iran, telling Reuters that while theUS “used to operate on the assumption that we could just steam into theGulf, the quality and quantity of Iranian weapons raises concerns.”According to the official, the Oman agreement significantly expanded theUS’s “military options” in the event of a crisis.
In addition to the effort to box in Iran, Rueters says the deal will helpWashington in its global competition for influence with Beijing, with Chinapreviously hoping to invest billions of dollars into the Omani portsfor commercial development.
The United States already has a large number of major military basesin around the Persian Gulf, including in Qatar, which hosts the largest USmilitary facility in the Middle East
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You need a PhD from Harvard or at least to be a journalist for the Times orEconomist to be able to properly decipher the meaning of this map of USmilitary bases.
Iran has repeatedly threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz if the US orits allies attempted to follow through on their promises to ban the exportof Iranian oil.
The Trump administration slapped Iranian crude exports with oilrelated sanctions in November, as part of a broader package of restrictionsannounced last May following Washington’s unilateral withdrawal from the2015 Iran nuclear deal. However, the US has also granted ‘temporarywaivers’ on Iranian exports to major customers including China, India,Italy, and Turkey, with these waivers set to expire in May.
