King Charles Hosts Oman's Sultan at Windsor and Praises Muscat's Role in Reopening Hormuz

A state banquet at Windsor Castle on Tuesday night carried a message that was more diplomatic than ceremonial. King Charles told about 160 guests that Oman had helped work to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and called it a "trusted interlocutor to all parties", Al Jazeera reported. He added that its constructive neutrality deserves the utmost respect.

Sultan Haitham bin Tariq is on a three-day visit that runs from 20 to 22 October. It is the first state visit to Britain by an Omani sultan in 44 years.

Why does this state visit matter now?

Because Oman sits on the southern shore of the strait, and the strait is where the war on Iran is being fought out in shipping lanes. Before the conflict, about 20 percent of the world's oil and natural gas passed through it, the Associated Press noted when Buckingham Palace announced the visit in September. Since the war began in late February, Oman has mediated between Washington and Tehran.

That has had a cost. The same AP report said US President Donald Trump threatened last month to bomb Oman as it appeared close to a deal with Iran on managing ship traffic through the strait. Muscat's insistence on talking to everyone is the reason it is useful, and the reason it is exposed.

What did the Sultan say?

Haitham said Oman had taken a separate path in a region full of conflict, choosing diplomacy, and thanked Britain for standing with it as "a friend on this path". Prime Minister Andy Burnham attended the banquet, as did the chief executives of Shell, BP and Airbus. The Sultan is due to hold talks with Burnham at Downing Street on Wednesday.