Oman has proposed a nonaggression pact among Gulf states, Iran and Iraq, while Qatar backs a regional security framework whose membership it has not specified, leaving the scope of any agreement unresolved.
Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr Albusaidi said an eight-country nonaggression pact should be the goal of a regional security framework. He named the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) members—Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates—plus Iran and Iraq as participants.
Qatar’s Foreign Ministry made a separate appeal Tuesday, Oct. 27, for a framework based on state sovereignty and mutual nonaggression. It said Qatar and other GCC members had repeatedly expressed readiness for such a system but did not name them or say they backed Oman’s plan. The ministry urged Iran to end threats against regional countries and preserve navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, continuing Doha’s earlier appeal on passage through the waterway.
Officials from Iran, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Türkiye met in Tehran on Monday and agreed to keep discussing cooperation, peace and security. Their joint statement did not announce an eight-country pact. Saudi Arabia said its defense minister and representatives of Makkah Joint Defence Agreement countries traveled to support de-escalation, dialogue and mediation efforts by Qatar and Pakistan. Saudi Arabia, Türkiye and Pakistan signed the agreement on Aug. 7; Iran was not a signatory.
Albusaidi pointed to a November 1976 meeting in Muscat, where foreign ministers from the eight countries discussed collective security. He said the ministers had not met in that full format at any other time. He also said reliance on outside security partners had brought significant financial costs and that their political priorities had sometimes diverged from regional interests. Such partnerships could continue, he argued, but should not lead regional security arrangements.
Separately, Reuters reported that Qatar gave Iran an unpublished draft deal on Oct. 25 that included a reported seven-day sequence of confidence-building steps. A senior Iranian official told Reuters the proposals were “unacceptable ideas and not an offer.” Reuters reported that Iran was expected to respond by the end of the week.
