Editing Qaboos bin Said (section)

===Foreign policy===
[[File:Gates & Qaboos of Oman.jpg|thumb|227px|Sultan Qaboos welcomes U.S. Defense Secretary [[Robert Gates]] to [[Muscat]], Oman, April 5, 2008.]]
[[File:The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi meeting the Sultan of Oman, Sultan Qaboos bin Said Al Said, at Bait Al Baraka, in Muscat, Oman on February 11, 2018.jpg|thumb|Indian Prime Minister [[Narendra Modi]] with Qaboos, 2018|227x227px]]
Under Qaboos, Oman fostered closer ties with Iran than other [[Arab states of the Persian Gulf]], and was careful to appear neutral and maintain a balance between the West and Iran.<ref name="bnORV">{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/16/world/middleeast/16oman.html | work=The New York Times | first=Michael | last=Slackman | title=Oman Navigates Between Iran and Arab Nations | date=16 May 2009}}</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20200111212311/https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/new-atlanticist/a-us-ambassadors-memories-of-sultan-qaboos/# A US ambassador’s memories of Sultan Qaboos]</ref> As a result, Oman often acted as an intermediary between the United States and Iran.<ref name="aWbk0">{{cite news |last=Gladstone |first=Rick |date=4 September 2013 |title=Iran's President to Speak at the U.N. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/05/world/middleeast/irans-president-to-speak-at-the-un.html |newspaper=NYT |access-date=31 August 2016}}</ref><ref name="v0mwq">{{Cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/pomegranate/2013/08/27/a-visit-from-the-sultan|title=A visit from the sultan|date=27 August 2013|newspaper=The Economist}}</ref> Qaboos helped mediate secret US–Iran talks in 2013 that paved the way to the [[Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action]] two years later.<ref name="PtFqR">{{Cite news|url=https://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Sultan-of-Oman-dies-aged-79-years-old-613815|title=Oman's Sultan Qaboos dies, cousin Haitham named successor|website=The Jerusalem Post &#124; JPost.com}}</ref>

In 2011, Qaboos facilitated the release of [[2009–11 detention of American hikers by Iran|American hikers who were held by Iran]], paying $1 million for their freedom.<ref name="smLgf">{{Cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/2011/09/21/140674880/tiny-nation-behind-the-scenes-of-americans-release|title=Oman Played Pivotal Role In Americans' Release|website=NPR.org|date=21 September 2011|language=en|access-date=11 January 2020|last1=Neuman|first1=Scott}}</ref><ref>{{Cite tweet |author=HillaryClinton |user=HillaryClinton |number=1216788363778383873 |title=My thoughts are with the people of Oman as they mourn the passing of Sultan Qaboos. He led his country with wisdom and provided safe harbor for diplomacy. I'll always be grateful for all he did to help secure the release from Iran of three American hikers in 2011.}}</ref>

Oman did not join the [[Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen]] against the [[Houthi movement|Houthis]] in 2015, and did not take sides in a Persian Gulf dispute that saw Saudi Arabia and its allies impose an [[Qatar diplomatic crisis|embargo on Qatar]] in 2017.<ref name="NYTObit" />

In October 2018, Qaboos invited [[Prime Minister of Israel]] [[Benjamin Netanyahu]] to visit Oman, despite his country not having official diplomatic ties with Israel. Netanyahu was the first Israeli prime minister to visit Oman since [[Shimon Peres]] in 1996.<ref name="IsrVisit">{{Cite news|url=https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Netanyahu-makes-historic-visit-to-Oman-570388|title=Netanyahu makes historic visit to Oman|website=The Jerusalem Post &#124; JPost.com}}</ref>