Omani Foreign Minister supports Arafat; discuss Iran issues

Omani Foreign Minister Yusef Bin Alawi denied following his meeting today with Palestinian President Yasser Arafat in Gaza in the first visit by a high-ranking Omani official to the self-rule areas reports about Oman signing a joint defense agreement with Iran.

Bin Alawi said there neither defensive nor security agreements were signed with Iran, but he said there are meetings controlling Oman's relations with Iran, among which is Oman's participation with Iran in keeping open the navigation lines in the Straits of Hormuz.

Alawi added that there is a conformity with the Iranians in combating drug smuggling yet there are neither defense nor security agreements, saying that he discussed with the Palestinian president the peace process developments and obstacles confronting it, assuring his country's support for Arafat to get all his legal rights and retake Jerusalem as Palestine's capital.