US officials met with Oman over opening airspace to Israeli flights — report

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L) talks with Sultan Qaboos bin Said in Oman on October 26, 2018 (Courtesy)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L) talks with Sultan Qaboos bin Said in Oman on October 26, 2018 (Courtesy)

Senior US officials met last week with Omani officials in a bid to get them to agree to open the sultanate’s airspace to Israeli flights, the Axios news site reports.

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan and Secretary of State Tony Blinken held a meeting with Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr al-Busaidi, Axios reports, citing US and Israeli officials.

The meeting came after Saudi Arabia recently allowed Israeli flights in its airspace.

But without Oman also agreeing, Israeli flights to the east, including to India and China, wouldn’t be able to take advantage of the Saudi offer, seen as an important step toward eventual normalization between Riyadh and Jerusalem.

 

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