WASHINGTON — The Bush administration is negotiating to maintain
U.S. military basing rights in Oman.
Diplomatic sources said the Defense Department has sought reassurances
from the sultanate to continue access to military bases in Oman. Muscat has
allowed the U.S. military to use four Omani bases, Middle East Newsline reported.
"Oman is very nervous of a U.S. war with Iran and does not want its
territory used for this," a diplomat said.
On Feb. 25, U.S. Vice President Richard Cheney held talks with Omani
leaders as part of his Gulf tour. The diplomatic sources as well as Omani
officials said Cheney, in his first visit since 2002, discussed the Iranian
threat to the Gulf.
"Cheney was there to reassure the Omanis that there would not be a war
against Iran," the source said.
The United States regards Oman as a strategic asset in efforts to defend
the Gulf. One of Oman's military bases employed by the United States is
located 80 kilometers from Iran.
So far, Oman has not allowed U.S. Central Command the right to conduct
combat operations from the sultanate. Instead, Centcom, with the use of air
bases at Masira, Musnana, Seeb and Thurmait, has been allowed to conduct air
and naval refueling, logistics and pre-positioning of military supplies in
Oman.
Over the last two years, the U.S. military presence in Oman has
declined. The diplomatic sources said U.S. military personnel in the
sultanate dropped from 550 in 2004 to 270 in 2006.
The United States has deployed B-1B bombers, C-130 air transports and
AC-130 air gunships at the Masira air base, used for the launch of the
failed U.S. mission to rescue 66 American hostages held in Teheran in 1979.
Some of those assets were said to have been used in the 2001 war in
Afghanistan.
The Congressional Research Service said the Pentagon extended U.S.
basing rights in 2000. CRS said in a report that the United States relayed
$120 million to modernize Oman's Musnana air base, adjacent to
the Strait of Hormuz, the passage for 40 percent of global oil shipments.
On Feb. 25, the Kuwaiti daily A-Siyassa reported that Oman, Qatar and
the United Arab Emirates agreed to provide Israel with air space rights in
any attack on Iran. On Monday, amid denials by all three countries,
A-Siyassa's editor said the three Gulf Cooperation Council
states pledged to provide the United States, rather than Israel, their air
space for a strike on Iran's nuclear facilities.
