Hillary Clinton Tours Oman

Hillary Clinton took a quick tour in Omanand visited Sultan Qaboos . Perhaps its time for the President to make a longer visit than Bill Clintons airport transfer when he was President.

Hillary Clinton and Sultan Qaboos (thanks to naharnet.com)

Brilliance of the Seas in Muscat

Our guests who had booked a shore excursion of Muscat from the Brilliance of the Seas two day visit to Muscat were not alone as on the next quay the Costa Luminosa docked for a single day visit . We decided to leave a bit later than normal to visit the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque as we hoped that the crowds would have thinned a bit when we arrived.

Costa Luminosa with Brilliance of the Seas

Oman’s Royal Horse Racing Festival

With the threat of rain over it was good to to take up an invitation to attend the Annual Royal Horse Racing Festival at the Royal Stables in Oman .

Royal Horse Race Program

The afternoon made a nice conclusion to the last 3 weeks of rain. Sultan Qaboos attended with guests including Sheikh Mohammed Al Nahyan of Abu Dhabi. From the Sultan’s stables several Akhal-Teke Horse – which are a very elegant breed – were shown. So, it was disappointing not to have been able to bring cameras into the grounds especially as a friends horse won the 5th race.

Sultan Qaboos visit to Iran

Sultan Qaboos will make his visit to Iran on Tuesday 4^th. It has been scheduled a few weeks ago, but was postponed. 

Iran is an important neighbour of Oman and the President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will be taking the oath for a new second four-year term. 

Hormozgān province, which His Majesty will visit, is an interesting choice.

Today Bandar Abbas, main city of  Hormozgān, is Irans main Naval Base. In the past Oman ruled the town of Bandar Abbas  (named after Shah Abbas ) in the 18th and 19th c .

The links go further.

Visited by Marco Polo and Ibn Battuta – the Island of Hormuz was the principal town of the Kingdom of Hormuz (an Omani/Arab Kingdom) whose second City was the, now ruined, town of Qalhat in Oman .

Persia has ruled parts of Oman, most notably under the Sassinids and later under Nadir Shah

So Sultan Qaboos will be in Iran on the day of the Oath by the new President. He will be the first Head of State and probably major world figure to visit Iran, since the recent elections – perhaps that was the original intention.

Shah ‘Abbas in London – Sultan Qaboos in Iran

The British Museum’s Great Court

Walking into the Shah ‘Abbas exhibition in the British Museum’s Reading Room was almost a sense of  ‘déjà vu’ as the very English Sir Robert Sherley & wife Teresia gaze down as they did in the Tate’s ‘Lure of the East’ exhibition last year . This time they were not included because of the gorgeous costumes but for Robert Sherley’s role as Persian Ambassador from Shah ‘Abbas to various European Courts . 

A Display Case of Chinese Blue and White

In 2007 President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visited the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque which of course has a very Persian flavour to it  with the style of Shah Abbas’s dynasty throughout the interior of the building.

As Sultan Qaboos seems to like Persian art he will enjoy his visit to Iran this month. Perhaps the visit by the Omani Minister of Tourism in May to Homs and other Iranian cities was a build up to this visit - one trusts that the current political uncertainty will not affect His Majesty’s visit.

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As an update – His Majesty’s visit did not take place at the end of June but Sultan Qaboos now should visit Iran during mid-July