The visit comes amid escalated tensions in the region DUBAI: Omani Foreign Minister Yusuf bin Alawi began his Tehran visit on Tuesday, Al-Arabiya television news channel reported. The visit comes amid escalated tensions and economic uncertainties in the region that began at the start of 2020. On Jan. 3 the United States killed Iran’s military commander, Gen. Qassem Soleimani in an air strike attack in Iraq. Following Soleimani’s death, US President Donald Trump promised to target 52 Iranian sites if Iran retaliated. In response, Iran fired more than a dozen ballistic missiles in the early hours of Jan. 8. Oman maintains friendly ties with both the United States and Iran and has previously been a go-between for the two countries, which severed diplomatic relations after the 1979 Iranian revolution.