231. A catastrophe and a grave miscalculation

According to Oman’s foreign minister, Badr Albusaidi, Iran and the US were close to reaching a real deal in nuclear negotiations held in Geneva in February, and the talks were substantive.

Badr Albusaidi facilitated the recent nuclear talks between Iran and the US.

A final phase of negotiations had been planned for the following week in Vienna, but 48 hours after the talks finished, the US and Israel began their strikes on Iran.

In an article published in The Economist, he has claimed that the US has lost control of its own foreign policy and accused Israel of persuading Donald Trump’s administration to go to war with Iran – a conflict he described as a catastrophe and a grave miscalculation.

The US and Israel’s bombing of Iran and the conflict have sparked throughout the Middle East.

Of all the Gulf countries, Oman was the most vocal and publicly proactive in trying to halt a US attack on Iran and warned Trump that a war would be devastating for the region.

The US negotiating team consisted of Trump’s special envoy, the real estate developer Steve Witkoff, and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner. They reportedly brought no experts with them.

Iranians had agreed to highly significant concessions, including a reduction and pause on their enrichment of uranium, and also offered the US the chance to participate in a future civil nuclear programme, in exchange for a lifting of sanctions and unfreezing of assets.

Albusaidi blamed Israel’s leadership for persuading Trump to join the war on the false basis that Iran’s regime would offer an unconditional surrender after the assassination of its supreme leader.

This is not America’s war, and there is no likely scenario in which both Israel and America will get what they want from it.