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Oman

The latest news, analysis and opinion on Oman. In-depth analysis, industry insights and expert opinion.

Capital

Muscat

Head of State

Sultan Haitham bin Tariq

Head of Government

Prime Minister Haitham bin Tariq

last updated:

6 January, 2025

Muslim men perform morning prayer in Oman. Tuesday’s attack stunned the peaceful sultanate. Photo: AFP/Getty Images/TNS

Middle East

Isis spreads terror to Oman, targeting Shiite Muslims in mosque shooting

It marked the first time that the Sunni Muslim extremist group has claimed responsibility for an attack in Oman.

17 Jul 2024 - 3:38PM

United States

Joe Biden speaks with Oman ruler as China eyes stronger presence in Middle East

11 Nov 2023 - 3:55PM

US-China relations

Biden briefed on Chinese effort to put military base in Oman

8 Nov 2023 - 3:08AMvideocam

Tourism

How do countries around the world mark their national days? A look at 10

In the United States, fireworks and hot dogs mark July 4 – and so does the launching of cars off a cliff. Which country invites its entire population to a royal garden party on its national day? Find out.

30 Sep 2023 - 5:15PM

In Thailand, December 5 marks the birthday of the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej and also the National Father’s Day. Photo: Getty Images

Middle East

Oman looks to raise profile in Asia after role ending Saudi-Iran feud

Oil-heavy nation aims to capitalise on success as Riyadh-Tehran intermediary, say analysts, and is involved in Yemen peace negotiations and energy deals – some of them green – with Asian partners.

16 Apr 2023 - 3:00PMvideocam

Middle East

Iran prosecutes woman for ‘disrespecting’ Islamic headscarf

‘Legal proceedings have been launched against a woman who disrespected her headscarf,’ local media reported. The requirement for women to wear the headscarf in public has been enshrined in law since 1979.

19 Feb 2023 - 1:01AM

United States

Alabama woman who joined Isis hopes to return from Syria camp

Hoda Muthana said she was brainwashed by online traffickers into joining IS in 2014. She says she hopes to return to the US and serve prison time if necessary.

9 Jan 2023 - 8:30AMvideocam

Hoda Muthana during an interview in Roj detention camp in Syria in November. Photo: AP / The News Movement

Middle East

Driving force? Saudi woman at wheel in Dakar rally steers careful course

Akeel, one of two Saudi women competing in 2023 race and one of only 31 women among 790 competitors, is vulnerable to accusations she is part of a ‘sportswashing’ campaign.

4 Jan 2023 - 2:29AMvideocam

Middle East

Gaza authorities discover over 60 Roman era graves

Hamas authorities in Gaza announced the discovery of dozens of tombs in an ancient burial site dating back to the Roman era.

12 Dec 2022 - 9:06AM

Middle East

Turkey arrests Syrian woman in deadly Istanbul blast, PKK denies attack

A woman has been arrested following the explosion in a bustling pedestrian avenue in the heart of Istanbul on Sunday, killing six people, wounding several dozen. The PKK has denied any role in the attack.

14 Nov 2022 - 8:39PMvideocam

The explosion immediately triggered panic, with people running in all directions. Photo: AP

Middle East

Oscar winners publicly cut their hair off to protest death of Iranian woman

Actors Juliet Binoche and Marion Cotillard and Swedish politician Abir Al-Sahlani cut their hair to protest the death of Mahsa Amini, arrested for not properly covering her hair.

7 Oct 2022 - 7:16PM

Actress Juliette Binoche has joined the global protests against the death of Mahsa Amini. Photo: AP

Iran

New Iran protests break out over woman’s death in police custody

Iranians took to the streets of the capital to protest the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who had been detained for violating the country’s conservative dress code.

20 Sep 2022 - 5:31PM

Iran

Anger as Iran woman dies after morality police arrest

Mahsa Amini, 22, was visiting Tehran when she was detained by the unit responsible for enforcing the country’s strict dress code.

17 Sep 2022 - 3:35AM

Middle East

Woman with toy gun grabs trapped savings from bank

Sali Hafez said she needed the money to fund her sister’s cancer treatment, but the bank told her she could only have US$200 a month. She said the toy pistol belonged to her nephew.

14 Sep 2022 - 7:56PM

Blom Bank in Beirut, Lebanon, where a group of depositors, including a woman with a toy gun, demanded access to their savings. Photo: EPA-EFE

Middle East

Saudi woman jailed for 45 years over social media use

It was the second such sentence that has drawn scrutiny of the kingdom this month.

31 Aug 2022 - 4:30PM

An illustration photo taken on January 25, 2021 shows the application Clubhouse on a smartphone in Berlin, after Thuringia’s state premier Bodo Ramelow admitted on the chat app to playing Candy Crush on his phone during online pandemic response meetings with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. - Bodo Ramelow, head of the eastern Thuringia state, made the confession during what he thought was a closed meeting on the invitation-only audio chatroom app Clubhouse at the weekend. (Photo by Odd ANDERSEN / AFP)

Middle East

Saudi Arabia sentences woman to 34 years in jail over Twitter use

Salma al-Shehab, a PhD candidate in the UK, is accused of aiding dissidents seeking to ‘disrupt public order’ and was arrested when she was back on holiday.

18 Aug 2022 - 8:45AM

Islamic State

Ex-US schoolteacher pleads guilty to leading Islamic State all-woman brigade

Allison Fluke-Ekren also trained the military battalion – known as the Khatiba Nusaybah – in the use of AK-47s, grenades and suicide belts.

8 Jun 2022 - 3:46AM

Iran

Oman and Iran sign deals on oilfield and gas pipelines

A deal was reached about two decades ago to allow Iran to supply Oman with gas, but the project never materialised.

5 Jun 2022 - 12:35AMvideocam

Oman’s Sultan Haitham bin Tariq stands with Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi during a welcoming ceremony in Muscat, Oman, on May 23. Photo: Official Presidential Website / Handout via Reuters

Turkey

Second superyacht linked to Russian oligarch Abramovich docks in Turkey

Roman Abramovich’s two superyachts, which collectively cost in excess of US$1 billion, left port earlier this month as Western nations impounded assets with links to wealthy Russians.

22 Mar 2022 - 3:16PM

Racism and other prejudice

86-year-old woman named Israel’s ‘Miss Holocaust Survivor’

Winner Selina Steinfeld had lived through the mass rounding up and massacre of Jews when she was a child in Romania.

17 Nov 2021 - 6:29AM

Britain

Husband of detained UK-Iranian woman vows to keep up hunger strike

Richard Ratcliffe is denouncing ‘complacency’ of the UK government and its failure to secure the release of his wife.

6 Nov 2021 - 2:33PM

Richard Ratcliffe began a hunger strike outside the Foreign Office in London some two weeks ago. Photo: EPA-EFE

US-Iran tensions

Iran seized Vietnamese oil tanker in Gulf of Oman, US officials say

Revolutionary Guard troops took control of the MV Southys, a vessel suspected of trying to transfer sanctioned Iranian crude oil to Asia, at gunpoint last month.

4 Nov 2021 - 5:40AM

Revolutionary Guard speed boats are seen in front of a US warship (left) amid the seizure of a Vietnamese-flagged oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman. Photo: Revolutionary Guard via AP

Middle East

At least 9 dead as Tropical Cyclone Shaheen lashes Oman and Iran

Rescue teams pulled the bodies of two Asian workers from their home hit by a landslide in the Rusayl industrial area of Muscat province.

4 Oct 2021 - 1:32AMvideocam

Afghanistan

Afghan woman gives birth to baby girl on evacuation flight to UK

Soman Noori gave birth to a baby girl on board the Turkish Airlines flight from Dubai to Birmingham.

28 Aug 2021 - 11:52PM

Israel

Britain joins Israel in claim that Iran attacked tanker, killing two

Calling it an ‘unlawful and callous attack,’ British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said his country and its allies planned a coordinated response.

2 Aug 2021 - 1:52AM

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett. Photo: EPA-EFE

Middle East

Two dead after ship linked to Israeli billionaire is attacked near Oman

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the Thursday night raid on the Liberian-flagged tanker Mercer Street.

31 Jul 2021 - 8:14PMvideocam

The Liberian-flagged oil tanker Mercer Street reportedly came under attack off the coast of Oman in the Arabian Sea, authorities said on Friday. Photo: AP

Middle East

UAE’s first Arab woman astronaut-in-training chases childhood dream

Nora al-Matrooshi will later this year travel to the United States to train at Nasa’s Johnson Space Center.

12 Jul 2021 - 3:50PM

Iran

Iran’s largest navy ship catches fire and sinks

Iranian support and training ship Kharg sinks in the Gulf Oman, circumstances unclear.

2 Jun 2021 - 8:15PM

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