Oman: Next Phase of Washington’s Strategy

After failing to secure a decisive strategic victory against Iran despite months of escalation and military pressure, Washington appears determined to restore its geopolitical credibility elsewhere in the Gulf. In this evolving power contest, Oman may increasingly find itself exposed to external pressure disguised as regional “security management.”

For decades, Oman has maintained a delicate diplomatic balance. Unlike many regional actors, Muscat preferred mediation over confrontation and dialogue over military adventurism. Yet geography has transformed the Sultanate into one of the most strategically valuable locations in the region.

The Port of Duqm and surrounding naval infrastructure are dangerously close to the Strait of Hormuz — the world’s most critical oil transit corridor. At the same time, the location places Oman within immediate strategic proximity of Iran’s Chabahar Port and Pakistan’s Gwadar Port, two emerging nodes in regional trade and connectivity. This triangle alone explains why global powers increasingly view Oman not merely as a Gulf state, but as a geopolitical gateway.

Washington’s expanding military footprint across the Gulf is often presented as a mechanism for maintaining stability and protecting maritime trade. However, history suggests that foreign military presence rarely remains temporary. Strategic access gradually evolves into political leverage, while security dependency slowly weakens national sovereignty.

Donald Trump’s confrontational posture toward Iran reflects more than ideological hostility. It also represents an attempt to demonstrate American dominance after Tehran resisted enormous economic sanctions, diplomatic isolation, and military intimidation. Direct confrontation with Iran carries enormous risks, but smaller Gulf states may appear easier arenas where Washington can project strength without triggering full-scale regional war.

This should concern every Arab emirate. The Gulf monarchies must recognize that fragmented security policies only increase dependence on outside powers. No state, regardless of wealth, can indefinitely preserve sovereignty while outsourcing its strategic defense architecture to foreign military forces.

Today the pressure may revolve around Oman and the Strait of Hormuz. Tomorrow the same logic could be applied elsewhere in the Gulf under another security pretext.

The lesson is becoming impossible to ignore - Arab states must either develop a collective regional security framework based on mutual defense and strategic independence, or continue watching external powers shape the future of the Gulf according to their own geopolitical interests.

Pushing Iran to Edge a Dangerous Gamble

The recent US strikes on Iran during Eid ul Adha have intensified a growing perception across the Muslim world that Washington is no longer merely seeking deterrence, but is steadily pushing Tehran toward a position where unconditional surrender becomes the only acceptable outcome. Rightly or wrongly, this perception is gaining traction because of the open and silent backing extended by several regional allies, particularly some Arab states that view Iran primarily through the lens of strategic rivalry.

However, history shows that when powerful nations attempt to corner adversaries without offering a credible political exit, the consequences often become unpredictable and dangerous. States under extreme pressure rarely capitulate quietly. More often, they resort to asymmetric retaliation before losing the capability to respond altogether.

Iran’s leadership is fully aware that its strategic infrastructure, military facilities, energy assets, and regional influence networks remain under increasing pressure. If Tehran reaches the conclusion that its long-term survival is at stake, it may decide that escalation carries fewer risks than submission. That is the point where the entire region could enter a far more dangerous phase.

The uncomfortable reality is that the United States, because of geography, may remain relatively insulated from direct retaliation. The immediate exposure instead lies with neighboring Gulf countries hosting American military bases, intelligence facilities, naval deployments, and logistical infrastructure. In any expanded confrontation, these locations could rapidly transform into frontline targets.

Such a development would not only threaten regional security but could also severely disrupt global energy markets, maritime trade routes, and already fragile economies across the Middle East. Investors, energy importers, and governments around the world would all pay the price for a conflict that may initially appear limited but could spiral beyond control.

This is reason the present trajectory demands urgent diplomatic intervention rather than continued escalation. Strategic pressure may weaken an adversary temporarily, but humiliation-driven conflict rarely produces lasting stability. The Middle East has already witnessed enough wars born from miscalculation, proxy rivalries, and excessive military confidence.

The world must recognize the danger before events move beyond diplomacy. Pushing Iran to the edge may not produce surrender; it may instead trigger a retaliatory spiral whose consequences no regional actor can fully contain.

Trump’s Mirage of Iranian Surrender

The recent US military strikes in southern Iran—executed precisely as Iranian diplomats converged on Doha for peace talks—expose a calculated strategy that goes far beyond traditional non-proliferation.

While Washington publicly frames its objectives around Iran’s nuclear stockpile and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, the true epicenter of American foreign policy has shifted.

Under the current US administration, the conflict is no longer just about disarming Tehran; it is about leveraging military pressure to enforce a fundamental geopolitical restructuring of the Middle East.

This strategy became clear when President Donald Trump explicitly linked an Iranian ceasefire to a "mandatory" expansion of the Abraham Accords. By demanding that heavyweight Muslim nations like Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Turkey immediately normalize ties with Israel, Washington is using the Gaza and Iran conflicts as diplomatic leverage. The underlying ambition is not a balanced regional equilibrium, but rather the creation of a US-backed, Israel-centric architecture that permanently sidelines Palestinian statehood and curtails sovereign dissent.

The "Great Deal" being offered to Tehran begins to resemble a demand for unconditional surrender. By weaponizing sanctions, frozen funds, and periodic airstrikes, the US is signaling that any relief for Iran is contingent on its capitulation to a new regional order.

However, attempting to fuse an Iran peace deal with a mandatory expansion of the Abraham Accords is a dangerous gamble. As regional analysts note, trading the fantasy of total Iranian capitulation for the illusion that a fragile ceasefire can anchor a brand-new Middle East order is highly unstable. Regional powers like Pakistan have already signaled that these issues cannot be artificially interlinked.

If Washington continues to condition maritime security and nuclear diplomacy on an ideological restructuring of the Muslim world, it will achieve neither peace nor stability. Instead of a "Great Deal," this heavy-handed approach risks collapsing ongoing diplomacy, leaving behind a more volatile, fractured, and deeply polarized Middle East.

MBS Silence and Strategic Pressure

The unusually restrained posture of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) during the ongoing US-Israel war on Iran reflects a deeper geopolitical shift unfolding across the Middle East. For decades, Washington’s regional strategy relied heavily on portraying Iran as the principal threat to Arab security. However, the China-brokered rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Iran weakened that narrative and signaled growing strategic independence within the Gulf.

Equally significant is Riyadh’s continued reluctance to join the Abraham Accords despite persistent pressure from the United States. Several Gulf states now appear increasingly cautious about unconditional alignment with Washington’s regional priorities.

Against this backdrop, the renewed legal attention to the Jamal Khashoggi case in France carries significance beyond the human rights dimension alone. A French anti-terrorism judge has been tasked with investigating allegations linked to Khashoggi’s killing inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018 — years after Turkey transferred proceedings to Saudi authorities and the United States effectively closed related civil litigation by granting immunity protections to MBS.

There is no evidence of direct political coordination behind the French inquiry. Yet, in geopolitics, timing often shapes perception as much as facts themselves. The reopening of a dormant controversy at a moment of visible divergence between Washington and Riyadh inevitably invites broader strategic interpretation.

Whether the renewed focus on Khashoggi is purely judicial or partly geopolitical may become clearer in the months ahead, particularly if tensions between the United States and Saudi Arabia continue to widen.

Israel’s role in Iran-United States conflict

The worst happening in the Arabian Peninsula is a war being waged by the Trump administration on Iran.  The financial terrorism and economic sabotage already inflicted on Iran by the US can also be termed acts of war. Truly, it does not get any more serious than this colossal foreign policy fiasco. Once again, Israel has successfully hijacked the US Military, State Department and Intelligence Community to wage an unprovoked war on a sovereign state in the Middle East. It may not be wrong to say that this war-in-the-making is the culmination of a covert plan to advance the Greater Israel project. The logic is as follows:

This is illegal, reckless and catastrophic war because such misguided warmongering is aimed at triggering the World War III. The global crime syndicate known as the International Banking Cartel, which runs the perpetual war economy across the planet, knows that the end is very near for them.  The entire Global Economic and Financial System is teetering on the precipice of a total and final collapse.  Their only way out is war, Third World War to establish a totalitarian One World Government.

Iran has become the lynchpin in this insane scheme to plunge the world community of nations into chaos.  This is precisely why President Trump was ordered by his Zionist masters to form his stone-cold war cabinet of Bolton, Pompeo, Pence, Haspel, Abrams and Shanahan.  Each chronic warmonger was hand-picked by Israel to develop and implement the war plans necessary to conquer Iran.

About eight months back MEK supporters tell them they will overthrow Iran’s regime and celebrate in Tehran with Bolton himself present. One also has to look at the rapidly evolving events in the Mideast, especially in the regions surrounding Iran. It has been quite clear ever since Trump first declared his candidacy in June of 2015 that war against Iran was the very centerpiece of his foreign policy.  Every major foreign affairs decision has been made toward that end, including the intentionally failed military coup against Venezuela.

Even Trump’s decision to continue the war in Afghanistan was made in order to maintain that strategic location which shares a long border with Iran.  The US occupation of Syria also remains firmly in place despite several promises to withdraw all troops because of the planned war with Iran; so is the large U.S. military presence in Iraq contrary to that nation’s wishes.

Now the whole world is seeing just how much premeditation and stealth have gone into this ‘American war’ against Iran fought on strictly behalf of Israel.  Zionists have been planning this armed conflict for decades, and they know it must not fail.

These warmongers know that there’s a tried and tested way to start any regional war, especially one that needs to capture the full support of the American people.  They will raise a false flag of terrorist attack on American assets somewhere in the world that is inordinately vicious and provocative.  If not that, they will secretly stage a surprise attack on the US Navy in the Mideast which will immediately be blamed on Iran.  There’s also the distinct possibility of a false attack on Saudi Arabian oil tankers.

The Israeli attack on the USS Liberty provides the best example of how Israel might be used to stage this false flag operation. Netanyahu has already proven to be an arch enemy of the United States as demonstrated by his own words and he will do whatever it takes to deceive the U.S citizenry into supporting another odious war to advance the Greater Israel project.