Worldand regional leaders, many at odds with one another, met Oman's new ruleron Sunday to offer condolences for the death of Sultan Qaboos whosequiet diplomacy during five decades in power helped calm regional turbulence.
The rulers of Qatar and the United Arab Emirate, which arelocked in a protracted dispute, were among those who visited the royal palacein Muscat as was the foreign minister of Iran.
Oman'snew sultan, Haitham bin Tariq al-Said, promised after assuming power onSaturday to uphold the foreign policy of his Western-backed predecessorunder which Muscat balanced ties between larger neighbors Saudi Arabia and Iranas well as the United States.
"His challenge going forward will be to quickly develop hispersonal relationships with foreign partners and make clear his likely stanceto stay-the-course with Oman's foreign policy," said Elana DeLozier, a researchfellow at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy think tank.
Qaboos, who died on Friday aged 79, managed to maintain Oman'sneutrality, not taking sides in the Qatar boycott, and helped to mediate secretUS-Iran talks in 2013 that led to an international nuclear pact two years laterwhich Washington then quit in 2018.
The British government said Prime Minister Boris Johnson and PrinceCharles arrived in Muscat for the condolences ceremony for the longest-servingArab leader, who took power in a palace coup in 1970 with the help of formercolonial power Britain.
Among other Western dignitaries was former French PresidentNicolas Sarkozy.
Haitham assumes power at a time of heightened tensions betweenIran and the United States that could destabilize a region vital to global oilsupplies.
