Amr himself was likely a Christian, although perhaps not openly so, since the religion was distrusted by his Sasanian overlords as it was associated with their main rival, the Byzantine Empire. During the negotiations for the peace treaty of 561 ending the war between the Sasanian Persians and the Byzantines, Amr demanded the payment of gold subsidies by the Byzantines, as had been the practice under his father, but this demand was rejected by the Byzantine negotiator, Peter the Patrician. As a result, Amr broke the peace by launching raids against his pro-Byzantine counterpart, the Ghassanid king al-Harith ibn Jabalah (). Al-Harith complained about these during this 563 visit to Constantinople, but pointedly remarked that he did not deem it necessary to retaliate so as not to disturb the peace. Amr repeated his demands in 567 via a Persian embassy to Constantinople, but was again rebuffed. In return, he ordered his brother Qabus to raid the Ghassanid territories. According to Shahîd, it appears that at that time, the Byzantine government tacitly consented to give the Lakhmids the desired subsidies to maintain the peace between Byzantium and Persia.