King Charles welcomes Oman’s sultan on first state visit in 44 years

Britain’s King Charles III welcomed Oman’s Sultan Haitham bin Tariq on Oct. 21 during the first state visit in 44 years, Al Jazeera said in a video report.

The visit gave Britain and Oman a rare ceremonial platform for ties between the two states; the 44-year interval underscored the diplomatic weight attached to the occasion.

Al Jazeera said King Charles praised Oman’s peacemaking efforts during his remarks. The report said the British monarch also quoted, in Arabic, a sacred text attributed to Islam’s Prophet Muhammad.

Oman presents itself as a diplomatic interlocutor in the Gulf and wider Middle East, while the United Kingdom maintains longstanding political and security relationships across the region.

State visits are among the most formal tools of diplomacy, combining royal protocol with government-level engagement between the host country and visiting head of state.