The conflict in Yemen emerged as the main focus of discussion between Omani Foreign Minister Yusuf bin Alawi and United States officials during his week-long visit to Washington.
Mr Alawi met Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday after talks with US Defence Secretary James Mattis, members of Congress including House Speaker Paul Ryan, and national security and treasury officials.
The State Department said that Mr Pompeo and Mr Alawi discussed Yemen, where they "affirmed the importance of continued support for the efforts of UN Special Envoy Martin Griffiths and emphasised the need for all parties to show restraint to avoid further escalation of hostilities."
"They discussed the ways in which US and Gulf interests coincide and agreed upon the importance of promoting regional stability and co-operation" the statement read.
Yemen's three-year-old civil war and peace efforts led by Mr Griffiths have been a major topic of discussion. The UN special envoy has been leading shuttle diplomacy between Muscat, Sanaa and Washington to resolve a stand off over the rebel-held port city of Hodeidah.
Gerald Feierstein, a former US ambassador and director for Gulf Affairs at the Middle East Institute, said Mr Alawi’s discussions have focused on "Yemen and the effort to resume co-operation within the Gulf Co-operation Council".
"Oman has historically played a mediating role on both issues and their continued engagement with the US can help advance talks now," Mr Feierstein told The National.
The US-Iran stand off was also expected to be on the table, before the resumption of US banking sanctions next week. Muscat, after boosting trade ties with Tehran in the past three years, is now trying to readjust its investment portfolio to avoid backlash from US sanctions.
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Read more:
UAE denies pro-Hezbollah newspaper claims of Oman pressure
Comment: Maximal pressure, minimum impact: how US-Iranian war of words is unlikely to be matched with action
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“The Omanis are not happy about the US decision to pull out of the Iran nuclear deal but they’re unlikely to openly challenge the resumption of sanctions,” said Mr Feierstein. Oman has played a back-channel role between Washington and Tehran in the past, but there is no indication of such an effort now as the US focus remains on increasing pressure on the Iranian government.
Instead, Yemen is emerging as the focal point of the visit. Following their meeting at the Pentagon, spokeswoman Dana White said Mr Alawi and Mr Mattis “discussed a broad range of regional security issues, including the conflict in Yemen, freedom of navigation and multilateral counter-terrorism co-operation”.
Fatima Al Asrar, a senior analyst at the Arabia Foundation who follows Yemen, told The National that "while Oman is playing a neutral part in the [Yemen] conflict, it should do more to ensure that it's able to secure its borders from smuggling activity along the Omani-Yemeni border, which benefits the Houthi militia."
Mr Mattis had raised the issue during his visit to Oman in March.
Ms Al Asrar said that increasing border security and anti-smuggling efforts would grant Oman “a far greater role in Yemen's peace process”.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
Citadel: Honey Bunny first episode
Directors: Raj & DK
Stars: Varun Dhawan, Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Kashvi Majmundar, Kay Kay Menon
Rating: 4/5
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
Tell Me Who I Am
Director: Ed Perkins
Stars: Alex and Marcus Lewis
Four stars
COMPANY PROFILE
● Company: Bidzi
● Started: 2024
● Founders: Akshay Dosaj and Asif Rashid
● Based: Dubai, UAE
● Industry: M&A
● Funding size: Bootstrapped
● No of employees: Nine
Tree of Hell
Starring: Raed Zeno, Hadi Awada, Dr Mohammad Abdalla
Director: Raed Zeno
Rating: 4/5
Singham Again
Director: Rohit Shetty
Stars: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, Deepika Padukone
Rating: 3/5
The specs
Engine: Long-range single or dual motor with 200kW or 400kW battery
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Max touring range: 620km / 590km
Price: From Dh250,000 (estimated)
Countdown to Zero exhibition will show how disease can be beaten
Countdown to Zero: Defeating Disease, an international multimedia exhibition created by the American Museum of National History in collaboration with The Carter Center, will open in Abu Dhabi a month before Reaching the Last Mile.
Opening on October 15 and running until November 15, the free exhibition opens at The Galleria mall on Al Maryah Island, and has already been seen at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum in Atlanta, the American Museum of Natural History in New York, and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
SPECS
Engine: 4-litre V8 twin-turbo
Power: 630hp
Torque: 850Nm
Transmission: 8-speed Tiptronic automatic
Price: From Dh599,000
On sale: Now
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Thank You for Banking with Us
Director: Laila Abbas
Starring: Yasmine Al Massri, Clara Khoury, Kamel El Basha, Ashraf Barhoum
Rating: 4/5
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Electoral College Victory
Trump has so far secured 295 Electoral College votes, according to the Associated Press, exceeding the 270 needed to win. Only Nevada and Arizona remain to be called, and both swing states are leaning Republican. Trump swept all five remaining swing states, North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, sealing his path to victory and giving him a strong mandate.
Popular Vote Tally
The count is ongoing, but Trump currently leads with nearly 51 per cent of the popular vote to Harris’s 47.6 per cent. Trump has over 72.2 million votes, while Harris trails with approximately 67.4 million.
Coming soon
Torno Subito by Massimo Bottura
When the W Dubai – The Palm hotel opens at the end of this year, one of the highlights will be Massimo Bottura’s new restaurant, Torno Subito, which promises “to take guests on a journey back to 1960s Italy”. It is the three Michelinstarred chef’s first venture in Dubai and should be every bit as ambitious as you would expect from the man whose restaurant in Italy, Osteria Francescana, was crowned number one in this year’s list of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants.
Akira Back Dubai
Another exciting opening at the W Dubai – The Palm hotel is South Korean chef Akira Back’s new restaurant, which will continue to showcase some of the finest Asian food in the world. Back, whose Seoul restaurant, Dosa, won a Michelin star last year, describes his menu as, “an innovative Japanese cuisine prepared with a Korean accent”.
Dinner by Heston Blumenthal
The highly experimental chef, whose dishes are as much about spectacle as taste, opens his first restaurant in Dubai next year. Housed at The Royal Atlantis Resort & Residences, Dinner by Heston Blumenthal will feature contemporary twists on recipes that date back to the 1300s, including goats’ milk cheesecake. Always remember with a Blumenthal dish: nothing is quite as it seems.
Scoreline
Al Wasl 1 (Caio Canedo 90 1')
Al Ain 2 (Ismail Ahmed 3', Marcus Berg 50')
Red cards: Ismail Ahmed (Al Ain) 77'
Company%20Profile
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APPLE IPAD MINI (A17 PRO)
Display: 21cm Liquid Retina Display, 2266 x 1488, 326ppi, 500 nits
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Main camera: 12MP wide, f/1.8, digital zoom up to 5x, Smart HDR 4
Front camera: 12MP ultra-wide, f/2.4, Smart HDR 4, full-HD @ 25/30/60fps
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In the box: iPad mini, USB-C cable, 20W USB-C power adapter
Price: From Dh2,099