The Arab Spring in Oman
A very good article from the center-left Huffington Post about the Arab Spring of Oman in 2011. See “How the Arab Spring Skirted Oman”, December 2011.
According to Huffington Post the Arab Spring in Oman was probably a warning send to Oman from the United Arab Emirates, in order for Oman to be careful about its friendship with Iran. I guess that the Saudis must have played a role too. I have said many times that Iran and Oman have agreed to construct the Iran-Oman-India natural gas pipeline, in order for India to obtain access to cheap natural gas while avoiding her rival Pakistan.
Map Iran-Oman-India Pipeline
Iran will also be able to send natural gas to Oman through the Iran-Oman pipeline, in order for this natural gas to be liquefied at Oman’s underutilized LNG facilities, before being exported to third countries in LNG form.
The cooperation between Oman and Iran brings Iran on the Arabian Peninsula, which is Saudi Arabia’s neighborhood. And that happens at a time the Saudis and the United Arab Emirates are already at war with the Iranians in Yemen, with the Iranians supporting the Shiite Houthi rebels.
The agreement between Iran and Oman also hurts Qatar, because Qatar exports huge quantities of natural gas (LNG) to India. Qatar and Iran are discussing the possibility of jointly exploiting the South Pars/North Fields gas field, which lies between the two countries in the Persian Gulf, and which is the largest gas field in the world, in order to jointly export gas to Turkey, India. This solution is more advantageous for Qatar than for Iran, because Iran has the geographical advantage.
The South Pars/North Fields is the main reason the relations between Qatar and Iran are better than the relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran. Qatar’s main ally is Turkey, and Turkey hopes that Qatar and Iran will stop killing each other and will cooperate, in order to send gas from the South Pars / North Fields to Turkey and Europe. For that to happen of course Turkey and Iran must first stop killing each other in Syria too. See “Pan-Arabism VS Pan-Islamism”.
https://iakal.wordpress.com/2016/05/21/pan-arabism-vs-pan-islamism/
Qatar, Turkey and Iran found themselves on the same side during some incidents of the Arab Spring (Tunisia, Libya, Egypt), even though they are killing each other in Syria, with Iran supporting Bashar al Assad, and Qatar and Turkey asking for his removal.
Iran was the aggressor in the Arab Spring of Egypt, Tunisia and Bahrain, and Iran was the defender in the Arab Spring of Syria and Oman. Saudi Arabia was the aggressor in the Arab Spring of Syria and Oman, and Saudi Arabia was the defender in the Arab Spring of Tunisia, Egypt and Bahrain.
In Libya things were very complicated, and I discuss Libya in the next chapter.