# Haitham bin Tariq

Haitham bin Tariq Al Said (Arabic: هَيْثَم بْن طَارِق آل سَعِيد, romanized: Hayṯam bin Ṭāriq ʾĀl Saʿīd; born 11 October 1955) is Sultan and Prime Minister of Oman.
Haitham was born in Muscat and is a grandson of Sultan Taimur bin Feisal. Sultan Qaboos bin Said was a cousin of Haitham, and Haitham served for multiple decades in Qaboos's cabinet, most recently as Minister of Heritage and Culture. Sultan Qaboos named him as his successor in his will. Haitham was proclaimed sultan on 11 January 2020, hours after Qaboos's death.

## Early life

Haitham is a son of Sayyid Tariq bin Taimur, son of Sultan Taimur bin Feisal, and Shawana bint Hamud bin Ahmad Al Busaidiyah. He has six brothers and two sisters: Talal, Qais, Asa'ad, Shihab, Adham, Faris, Amal, and Nawwal. Sayyida Nawwal bint Tariq (also called Kamila) was married to Sultan Qaboos bin Said from 1976 to 1979. His brother Sayyid Asa'ad bin Tariq is the Deputy Prime Minister for Relations and International Cooperation Affairs and his brother Sayyid Shihab bin Tariq is the Deputy Prime Minister for Defense Affairs. His other four brothers are all businessmen and are not involved in politics.
He completed his primary education at Saidiya School in Muscat and attended Brummana High School in Lebanon. He graduated from the Foreign Service Programme (FSP) at Pembroke College, Oxford in 1979.

## Marriage and children

Haitham is married to Sayyida Ahad bint Abdullah bin Hamad Al Busaidiyah and together they have four children.
* Crown Prince Sayyid Theyazin bin Haitham (born 21 August 1990), married Sayyida Meyyan bint Shihab Al Said on 11 November 2021 in the Mazay Hall of Al Alam Palace.
* Sayyid Bilarab bin Haitham (born 10 January 1995) married 15 June 2021 at Al Alam Palace and has issue
* Sayyida Thuraya bint Haitham
* Sayyida Omaima bint Haitham

## Political career

A sports enthusiast, Haitham served as the first head of the Oman Football Association in the early 1980s. He served as the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for Political Affairs from 1986 to 1994, and was later appointed as the Secretary General for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1994–2002). He was later appointed as Minister of Heritage and Culture in March 2002 and later chaired the national census committee in 2003. He usually represented Oman abroad in a diplomatic capacity; in 2016, he personally welcomed the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall (later King Charles III and Queen Camilla) on a visit to Oman.
Haitham is also chairman of the committee for the future vision of "Oman 2040" along with being honorary president of the Oman Association for the Disabled.
He was said to be the favoured candidate of Oman's merchant families with whom he is said to have links.

## Sultan of Oman

After the death of Sultan Qaboos, Haitham's first cousin, on 10 January 2020, Haitham was named by the royal family and Qaboos's will as Sultan of Oman the next day and took an oath before an emergency session of the Council of Oman in Al-Bustan. According to Omani state TV, Qaboos's letter was opened by the Defence Council and his identity was announced shortly thereafter. As sultan, he also held the positions of prime minister, supreme commander of the armed forces, minister of defence, minister of finance, minister of foreign affairs and chairman of the Central Bank of Oman until 18 August 2020 when he appointed Badr bin Hamad Al Busaidi as foreign minister, Sultan bin Salem bin Saeed al-Habsi as minister of finance, and Taimur bin Asa'ad al Said as chairman of the Central Bank of Oman.
In his first public speech, he promised to uphold his predecessor's peace-making foreign policy and to further develop Oman's economy. Haitham bin Tariq is married and, unlike his predecessor, also has children, two sons and two daughters.
Early in his reign he signed Oman to the United Nations Convention Against Torture, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance.
On 11 January 2021, the Sultan issued a royal decree creating a Crown Prince role, stating that Oman’s crown prince will be the eldest son of the serving sultan. This made his eldest son, Sayyid Theyazin, the country's first crown prince, and officially formalised the method of succession. He also changed the Basic Law of Oman to grant citizens and residents freedom of expression and opinion, removed a law that allowed the state to monitor private phone conversations, social media or postal correspondence, and granted the freedom to practice religious rites according to recognised customs provided it does not violate the public order or contradict morals.
In April 2021 Oman introduced its value added tax, later than the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain but before Qatar and Kuwait.
In May and June 2021, there were many protests against the Omani government over economic concerns such as unemployment and corruption. Some protesters were arrested and then released.
Haitham's visits to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Kingdom have been seen as a move to maintain peaceful and cordial relations with Oman's important partners. His visit to Saudi Arabia was the first political visit by an Omani royal to the kingdom in over a decade. During his visit to the United Kingdom, he met Queen Elizabeth II at Windsor Castle and was honoured with a GCMG. In September 2022, following Elizabeth II's death, Haitham visited Buckingham Palace to offer his condolences to King Charles III.
He visited Tehran in May 2023 where he discussed regional diplomatic and security issues, two days after Muscat mediated a prisoner swap between Iran and Belgium.
In 2023 the government approved a $5.2 billion investment fund, the Oman Future Fund, to support diversified economic growth and announced a new development project, Sultan Haitham City. In 2023 a Tourism Law was promulgated.
The Medium Term Fiscal Plan for 2020-24 proposed greater fiscal sustainability. Oman’s overall fiscal deficit averaged 12.8% of gross domestic product from 2015-20, while the budget deficit reached approximately 3.6% in 2021. Oman enjoyed a budget surplus of approximately 5% of GDP in 2022 – the country’s first surplus since 2013.

## Honors
### National

* Oman
** Member 1st Class of the Order of Al Russoukh (or The Firmness)
** Member 1st Class of the Order of Al-Said
** Member 1st Class of the Order of Oman
** Member 1st Class of the Order of the Renaissance of Oman

### Foreign

* Algeria: Grand Collar of the National Order of Merit (29 October 2024)
* Austria: Grand Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria (31 March 2001).
* Bahrain: Member Exceptional Class of the Order of Sheikh Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa (24 October 2022).
* Belgium: Grand Cordon of the Order of Leopold (3 December 2024)
* Egypt: Collar of the Order of the Nile (21 May 2023).
* Jordan:
** Grand Cordon of the Supreme Order of the Renaissance (4 October 2022).
** Collar of the Order of Al-Hussein bin Ali (22 May 2024).
* Kuwait: Collar of the Order of Mubarak the Great (6 February 2024).
* Qatar: Sword of the Founder Sheikh Jassim bin Mohammed bin Thani (22 November 2021).
* Saudi Arabia: Collar of the Order of Abdulaziz al Saud (11 July 2021 – I Class, 24 December 2006).
* Turkey: Order of the State of the Republic of Turkey (28 November 2024).
* United Arab Emirates: Collar of the Order of Zayed (27 September 2022).
* United Kingdom:
** Honorary Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order (GCVO) (26 November 2010).
** Honorary Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George (GCMG) (15 December 2021).