Lets get going with this news breaking news out of a man state media has announced the death of Sultan Qaboos been side ill cite he ruled since 1970 but had suffered illness in more recent years there has been intense speculation for several years now about who will replace him because he never publicly named a successor well examine his legacy here on the news for you 1st matheson looks back at his life. Couple. Was an only son born in 1942 a life of royal privilege and to a father he would overthrow 30 years later what he did basically is modernizing the country opening the country to outsiders and thirdly looking at the domestic politics and try to move on to the state formation where building is institutions and related elements so to uncouple us was educated in oman and then at a private school in the u. K. Before graduating from Sandhurst Military Academy and serving in the british army for several months on his return to a man in 1966 his determination to modernize his country is said to have been ignored by his father. 4 years later backed by the british sort of seize the throne he was immediately plunged into his 1st crisis an uprising by communists in though far in the south of a man who wanted independence it took a further 6 years before the fighting ended with the man being supported by forces from britain jordan and iran. A mans links with iran as well as its Foreign Policy of maintaining good relations with other neighboring countries have made it one of the main negotiators in the gulf a man basically rely on it is on understanding of geopolitics. Being realistic and also maintain his own legacy of being you know the oldest state. Experience in the gulf as a whole that flexible Foreign Policy has been controversial in october 2800. 00 sort on caboose met israeli Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu in the omani capital muscat the meeting dismayed critics who said arab states should not be hosting israeli leaders until peace was established between israel and the palestinians a mans. Modern minister said his country was simply facilitating efforts towards negotiations. So dont go bruce had rarely been seen in public since he went through lengthy medical treatment in germany in 2015 he was on married and had neither children nor siblings and he did not publicly name a successor the Foreign Policy ordeal was i would say dynamic brad matic and also open to. The idea of engaging with the International Community and that that to dimension make me i think make me believe that we should not expect a major change now the world waits to see who will replace a man who modernized his small gulf nation and maintained a delicate balance of loyalties in an often unstable region. Well the process of choosing Sultan Qaboos his successor is already underway with a mans powerful defense counsel convening right now Council Members will be called on if the sultans family members concentrate on a successor within 3 days in advance of and defense Council Members and other senior government officials will open a sealed envelope in which the Sultan Qaboos himself secretly wrote down his choice and that person will then be enthroned for a man whos played a largely neutral role and acted as a mediator in the region Mohamad Chatah is standing by for us in the yemeni capital sanaa 1st lets go to a big who is live for us this hour here on the news in tehran asset the iranian authorities whatever political hue they were they always found a friend in oman. Absolutely let me just tell you about some of the history between the 2 countries in the 1970 s. When the sultanate of all miners facing the rebellion in the south of the country iran was under the leadership of the shah of the time but they sent 4000 soldiers over to help the sultan out jury rebellion and iran lost around 700 soldiers now omar never forgot that although there was a change of leadership in this country in recent years theyve paid a mediator between iran and the rest of the world even during the iran iraq war between 1981988 there were secret talks between iraq and iran held at muscat held in muscat and although there was an agreement reached it helped reduce mistrust between the 2 countries and also on one strongly supported the resolution to the United Nations asking for a cease fire during that conflict in recent years this was the case of the United States. Hikers that were detained in iran and again amman mediated and helped to have them released and in april last year there were the joint military exercise Naval Military exercise between iran and oman and because they share that strategic waterway the strait of hormuz where it is narrow point between iran and oman is about 33 kilometers wide and as important like the nuclear deal the 2015 nuclear deal it was actually oman approached the United States from these are from reports from former u. S. Diplomats there was a man approached the United States and said that theres a possibility of talks and had got that process going between the 2 countries and what we hear from former u. S. Diplomat says that oman very much was saying to United States try and look at the region from the iranian perspective and that helped get. Both parties around the table to negotiate and even recently after the assassination of general carson for the money by the United States it was rumored that oman had approached iran and asked for deescalation asked for restraint and on iran has really found a friend in oman they have constant delegations between the 2 understand that divides the reef visits regularly i think he was there last month so they are very close and iran would be watching this the situation in amman very closely because whoever leads the country iran will want again and neutral on mon and on mon that will continue to pay mediate in the region and given the difficulty and the toxicity of so many relationships at the moment across the broader gulf region you know theres the emir of kuwait hes 91 hes not a young man the gulf has lost somebody who brought a calming influence to those very important conversations that had to be had and still have to be had. Yes very much so a martyr was instrumental in time of trying to restore diplomatic relations between iran and saudi arabia also the United Kingdom and whats interesting about a mine is the theological split sometimes within this region this sunni shia split like and amman is not shell sunni they follow bodies of which is the only country in the region that does that so that makes it very unique puts them in a very unique position not to be party sent but yes its this region is always. On a fine balance we have aging leaders in the region we have increased tensions increased military build up in the strait of hormuz and and the gulf and every country in that region now would be looking at amman and wondering who will be taking over and what the political direction of amman will be ok ok thanks very much. Who joins us from Santa Barbara what does he bring to or should have turned into the yemeni Peace Process i guess but stalled after the discussions in stockholm what coming 2 years ago. Yes. This sort of plan to close inside has played a major role in bringing to the negotiating table the yemeni warring sides especially the whole of these and also the International Governments and also he has played a major role in facilitating the the and easing the. Saudi imposed a blockade in yemen which has negatively impacted the treatment of some people especially the he made it. Easier for people to travel through his. Dovers. Like the like the medical flights and also the diplomatic flights which are used to go through or from sun are to oman must cut. The money roll was a positive role model to to bring political factions in the country and also all the. Omani role also has in many ways that his policy their policy of friend to all and also an enemy to none has played a major role and also turn resolving many do. Difficulties especially their. Resolve to the the long time to the long years. Problem about the yemeni or many bloggers. Resolve such. Difficulties or such issue peacefully between the former government on the cobbles so the the upcoming pretty decisive whosoever will be will face many difficulties many special young man who are the upcoming protests will play the mayor the same role like aircel time and carlos in. Becoming an. Mediator a neutral mediator and also specially now we are living in a volatile region and the the tensions between the u. S. And iran also the current is collations in the region so the or whosoever will replace. The. Cardinals will face many difficulties. People here also are watching the developments in on oman very closely and they are keeping an eye on that the upcoming predicts will continue the marshal the the sultan. Mohammed thanks very much well staying with her story a diplomatic out of the james bays has more now from the United Nations he says the death of the sultan does leave a void in both gulf and International Diplomacy to. I think this is devastating news for the people of amman but it will be felt i think right across the region this is the longest serving ruler in the middle east in power for 50 years and beyond the people of amman a country where its still not clear who is confirmed successor will be i think theres going to be a great deal of reaction and a great deal of worry about the situation because 1st amman played an outsized role in the region particularly in the gulf but also in the wider middle east you have a Gulf Cooperation Council deeply divided in recent years with the spat with in the gulf thats been going on and amman very much has been a mediator and a peace keeper there but its also been a mediator and peace keeper on much bigger issues for example the u. S. And iran oman is the known back channel amman is the destination where people go to meet away from prying eyes to try and do deals and it was in amman that the the key early meetings that led to the Iran Nuclear Deal took place so i think people be worried a particularly at this time of turbulence a time when relations between the u. S. And iran are so bad when in recent days the 2 countries have seemed to come so close to war so i think this doesnt help an already difficult situation in the middle east theres one small opportunity of course here and that is the fact that there will be a funeral and almost certainly theres going to have to be high level delegations going there i think its quite likely youll see the president of iran there will you see the president of the United States as well youll certainly see high level representation so you will see high level delegates from iran and the u. S. In the coming days i suspect in oman but a worrying time a further blow i think to the region. Well a mans royal family will have 3 days to decide who will replace Sultan Qaboos for inside outside under money law if they fail to agree the position will go to a person whose name was written in 2 sealed letters from the late sultan that individual will be revealed by muskrats royal court before being enthroned the process is in place because as we mentioned had no children and never publicly named a successor. Joining us here in the is my juves wherry director of the Gulf Studies Center at Castle University great to talk to at this difficult time for a man who was his legacy. I think we can talk about. 4 main components with comes to its is his legacy the 1st one is actually the state formation of a man a man whos been. Takes its own shape as a modern state and that was important when it comes to the. Infrastructure when it comes to the structure of the state when it comes to the military institution with. State formation with all its meaning and the 2nd one is actually the structure of the state you know trying to reform you know having the constitution 1963 reform trying to look at you know the engagement or having elections and more than once now they have a problem and the elections so trying to open up the country gradually and that help basically the country to tackle a lot of challenges and respond to a lot of challenges coming because of the do politics and is happening in the region and the 3rd one many join the relation with with with the neighborhood with the neighboring countries you know a man was was able you know to manage its relation with saudi arabia with iran with an artist it live youre still with the Great BritainUnited Kingdom so they were able to manage their relations and to survive as a country and actually capitalizing on this and benefiting when it comes to the issue of mediation as which is the 4th element of this legacy what were the influences under and under which he fell as a child and a teenager and a young man so that when he comes back from santos when he comes back from military school if you will in the u. K. He i guess you would want to assume that he was going to become a firebrand firebrand sultan type figure because usually i know this is a sweeping generality usually in the arab world if you have a young prince you expect them to get. Into trouble at some point you expect them to have a situation with another country never happened with him serves or where did he push it where did he placed himself in that i think his choice was a clear in the early 1970 s. That he wants to move a man to be a mother in a state and that was if you look at the response of the countries to the father of illusion the communist against the with the 1st challenge axis of bunker was mitt if you look at those countries supported him and that tells you you know those countries were more for you know calling for modernization of the states pushing 2 more opening up and then that was in an opportunity for a man to move on and that was i think a great opportunity for him where he capitalized it and acts like see them doing that so he did have a quality though didnt he sometimes or in the past for 15 years or so there was a certain curial enigmatic element to his personality other people were going to these big set piece lavish rich arab summit he would send a delegation and he just say no its not worth me being there ill go to the next one so he managed to kind of unsettle some people in in an almost playful way sometimes you know. His appearance his engagement politically was very interesting because he was attending some summits vents and he said being of others i think he has a character of showing that the country itself has a weight anyone comes from a man has to wait it was it was obvious that he you know despite the fact that we speak about a man who was but he managed to introduce other individuals who can convey the message of a man regardless. Who those people that basically did not rule the fact that he is the center he is the core of the car. You want comes to politics the National Relations engagement all of this is the center is i mean according to you know all of those important meetings he is there i mean look at the last evidence he was engaged in receiving the Prime Minister of israel basically it was controversial and that tells you how much his personality is important when it comes to Money Politics and going back over the half century that he ruled the country he seemed to have this this High Water Mark of its more difficult to stay out of a fight in absolutes than it is to get involved in the fight which was i guess some sense is in some ways precisely what other arab leaders would not want to hear because they were kind of getting ready to get involved in iran iraq war or some conflict in the g. C. C. A lot of interest or whatever whatever the situation may be hed say actually guys know stay out of it dont get involved basically he meant it i mean if you look at their theme important milestone being part of you know being close to iraq and iran in 1980 s. That was a very interesting and not being involved with any wont those countries keeping the embassy open and toran and having a relation with iraq thats very very significant from a country later on that the 2nd one you know being in gauging with iran iran and the severe pressure even in iran being isolated and you have the same time the friend of the United States and not involved in for years and suddenly you become an important player when it comes to the it seems the timing the the geopolitics whats happening around them is also determine the money move or what they would they would they do again if you look at their role in yemen now for a while a man was monitoring the situation a man was calling for peace a man did not. Reject to be a part of the size of the storm and but at the end of the day they found themselves in good they found themselves the center of negotiation and mediate. Receiving a hoot isnt it so it seems they managed to distance himself for a while but the changes actually come just behind the door and when the changes come behind the door they found him so no no way but to be engaged that did he get his people to get involved in these various kind of dog whistle issues that he was involved in or did it to him self im thinking here as a big was mentioning theyre talking to tehran 201120123 american hikers theyre on the wrong place at the wrong time if they get lifted by the iranian authorities so its a diplomatic crisis oh no its not because a mans getting involved everyone has a sigh of relief and he secures their release you know the end of the day this is a monarch you have you have the tools 1st of all there is sort of international respect to him and he has also a good communicator through his institutions you know he have a very sophisticated mi