How Oman, Qatar, Egypt and Russia helped to achieve Israel-Iran ceasefire

Collaboration included passing messages, and threats, between Iran and Trump administration

A mural in Tehran that reads 'Now is our turn'. EPA

Oman took the lead in a behind-the-scenes diplomatic drive involving Qatar, Egypt and Russia that contributed significantly to the Israel-Iran ceasefire announced by US President Donald Trump late on Monday, sources told The National.

The talks, which intensified in the 72 hours before the ceasefire announcement, involved creating a channel of communication between Iran and the Trump administration by relaying messages between them, the sources said.

Iran's messages, they said, included thinly veiled threats of using more destructive missiles against Israel and closing the Strait of Hormuz, the world's busiest waterway for oil cargo, at the mouth of the Gulf.

The aerial war between Israel and Iran, which began on June 13 with Israeli air strikes on Iranian nuclear and missile sites, had raised fears of a wider regional conflict. Those fears increased after the US bombed Iran's nuclear sites at the weekend, with Tehran vowing to retaliate by hitting American interests across the region.

Oman and the three other nations urged the Trump administration to act "quickly and decisively", warning that a prolonged war would have disastrous results for the Middle East and beyond, said the sources.

"Oman was by far the most active party in these contacts," said one source. "It has orchestrated the contacts between the Iranians and the Americans, delivering messages from the pair to each other."

Oman, a close US ally that has traditionally maintained good relations with Iran, is a secretive Gulf nation that has over the years mediated between Tehran and Washington, as well as in various regional conflicts.

It has not publicly commented on its role in bringing about the ceasefire and is unlikely to do so.

Qatar, however, acknowledged its role in the process. The Gulf state's Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman said on Tuesday that Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim had spoken to Mr Trump to chart a path towards a ceasefire.

"Our friends in the United States proposed that the state of Qatar will initiate communication with the Iranians in order to examine their preparedness," he said. "We initiated communication with the Iranians and then it was followed by the announcement made by the US President."

The ceasefire announcement came hours after Iran launched missiles at the US Al Udeid airbase in Qatar. The attack caused no damage, with all but one of the missiles intercepted. It has, however, sparked condemnation from Qatar and Arab states across the region.

Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian spoke to Sheikh Tamim on Tuesday, the Qatari Prime Minister said.

Link Oman, Egypt has said nothing publicly about its role in a ceasefire, but its leader, President Abdel Fattah El Sisi, held phone calls on Sunday with Mr Pezeshkian and the ruler of Oman, Sultan Haitham, Egyptian president's office said.

Egypt's relations with Iran have improved rapidly in recent months after decades of tension dating back to the 1979 Islamic Revolution that toppled the Shah.

Similarly, Russia has not said anything about its part, but the Kremlin on Tuesday rejected criticism that it had not done enough to back Iran in its war with Israel, saying it had taken a "clear position" by condemning the US and Israeli strikes.

Iran's indirect messages to the Americans in the run-up to Mr Trump's ceasefire announcement included implicit threats that it could hurt Israel much more effectively if it were to use the full range of its arsenal of ballistic missiles and drones, said the sources.

Another message sent by the Iranians said Tehran had potential to withstand a long, drawn-out war, citing its ruinous, eight-year conflict with Iraq in the 1980s.

The Iranians also claimed a prolonged war would invariably leave Tehran little or no choice but to target western and US interests across the world, using its "brigades of martyrs" to carry out attacks.

On a separate track, major west European nations also played a part in the ceasefire effort, the sources said, with most motivated by fear of the effect on their economies if Iran were to make good on its threat to close the Strait of Hormuz.

They said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had been reluctant to accept the ceasefire, arguing with the Trump administration that his government's war goals – destroying Iran's nuclear and ballistic capabilities – were not fully met.

However, Mr Netanyahu issued a statement on Tuesday night saying Israel had agreed to Mr Trump's proposal for a ceasefire "in light of the achievement of the operation's goals".