Muscat-Oman War

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The **Muscat-Oman War** is an ongoing conflict between the Saudi-aligned Imamate of Oman and the Egyptian-aligned Sultanate of Muscat.

## Timeline

### Background

After the First Weltkrieg, relations between the interior Imamate of Oman and the coastal Sultanate of Muscat grew tense, as the latter had grown increasingly aligned with colonial powers over time, particularly with the British Empire. As the United Kingdom collapsed into revolution, exiling the royal family to Canada and forming the syndicalist Union of Britain in its wake, the Sultanate of Muscat would enter a long period of decline, losing the port city of Gwadar in India, as well as waning its influence in Oman.

The Imam of Oman, Muhammad bin Abdullah al-Khalili, would openly show independence by aligning with the House of Saud against the Ottoman-aligned House of Rashid, utilizing the Saudi-Rashidi War to declare *de facto* independence from the Sultan. Following the defection of Yemen from Ottoman rule, Muscat would also begin to opportunistically shift its foreign policy against the Turks, becoming a Cairo Pact observer.

### Cairo Pact observers

Tensions would erupt over the following ten years between the two countries. When Imam Muhammad al-Khalili fell ill in 1945, Muscat would make a deal to funnel arms into the Ghafiri tribal confederation, hoping to start a civil war in Oman: these deals never came to fruition, however, and the Sultan would be publicly reprimanded for these actions.

These disputes between Muscat and Oman would keep both countries from becoming official Cairo Pact member states, as Muscat objected to the independence of the Imamate, appealing to Egyptian concerns over Saudi encroachment. Relations between the two soured further the closer Muscat grew towards Egypt, with the Sultan viewing it as a necessity for the region's economic survival, despite playing into the hands of propaganda portraying the Sultan as a puppet.

### 1954 Border War

Imam Muhammad al-Khalili would perish in 1952 amid a time of strife within the Cairo Pact, as the Persian client state of Iraq withdrew from the alliance, provoking discussion of a Saudi withdrawal for their own reasons. Muscat's alignment towards Egypt threw it into further isolation, as the Entente had been shifting its support over time towards the House of Saud and its allies in the Imamate, inflaming the growing Saudi-Egyptian rift in the Pact. As a result, when the staunch conservative nationalist Ghalib al-Hinai was elected as Imam, Said bin Taimur would seize upon the rift in an act of desperation, provoking border disputes at every corner.

In 1954, the royal forces of Muscat would be deployed to occupy the Fahud oil field under the pretense of conducting a survey. Indeed, much of the conflict had the ulterior motive. held by Egypt and its client states, of seizing Omani oil reserves in order to cut the losses of a potential Saudi exit. The war would stall, however, with the arrival of Saudi militia at Tanam, beating back the Sultanate in a major battle and forcing them to halt the invasion.

### Recursion

Talib al-Hinai, younger brother of Ghalib al-Hinai, fled the Imamate after the Battle of Tanam to gather foreign support, primarily from Canada and the Entente.