Muscat: Sayyid Badr bin Hamad Al Busaidi, the Foreign Minister, has called on western powers to exert greater pressure on Israel to cease its offensives in the Middle East, emphasizing their “moral obligation” to do so.

According to Oman News Agency, the Foreign Minister expressed his concerns in an interview with the Financial Times. He stated that countries have a duty that goes beyond mere persuasion, urging for the implementation of constraints on Israel to stop its aggression. Sayyid Badr criticized the United States and other nations for their unsuccessful attempts to convince Israeli leadership to halt the fighting and return to political negotiations, noting that these efforts have shown little effect.

He further argued that western countries should move away from an “outdated, cold war habit” of unconditional support for Israel. Sayyid Badr suggested that peaceful leverage could be applied by nations that maintain close ties with Israel, referencing France and the UK’s decisions to limit weapons sa
les as examples.

Addressing the topic of Iran and its use of proxies like Hizbollah and support for Hamas, the minister dismissed the notion that these groups are the root cause of instability in the region. He contended that the rise of such national resistance movements could have been avoided if the occupation of Palestinian land by Israel had been addressed. Sayyid Badr criticized the perception of Iran as a hostile power, attributing it to Prime Minister Netanyahu’s agenda, and stated that no other country should adhere to this perspective.

In concluding his remarks, the Foreign Minister declared Israel as the only nation currently seeking to continue the conflict and criticized the international community for failing to effectively convince Israel to cease its actions.