Muscat denies intention to reopen its trade office in Tel Aviv

An official at the Omani Foreign Ministry has denied any agreement to reopen Oman's office of trade representation in Israel.

The Omani official said the visit of the Omani delegation to Israel did not aim at reopening the office which was closed following the deterioration of the peace process under former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but to give the Middle East peace process a push forward. He stressed that the heart of the matter does not relate to reopening the office, noting that reopening this office will be linked to progress in the peace process.

An earlier statement by the Omani Foreign Ministry stressed Oman's desire for Syria's restoration of its occupied territories in the Golan and its desire to achieve a just peace that restores rights to their owners.

On Monday Reuters quoted an official at the Israeli Foreign Ministry as saying that Oman has decided to reopen its trade office in Tel Aviv, in reference to the improvement of relations between Israel and the Arab world.

Oman opened in August 1996 the office to be the first Arab Gulf state to have any sort of representation in Israel, then Oman closed the office in 1997 when Oman froze relations with Israel due to Netanyahu's policies.