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Conflict coverage · Iran–Gulf

Relationship record

Oman → The United States in the Gulf

A facilities-access arrangement since 1980, extended in 2019 to the ports at Duqm and Salalah — access outside the strait rather than a base inside it.

Basing arrangement Since 1980

Active
Assessed as of
2026-09
Last reviewed
2026-09-14

AssessmentHigh confidence

A described arrangement, not a rating. Vigil publishes no measure of how strong, warm or hostile a relationship is, and no relationship on this site carries a score, a trend or a direction of travel. What is recorded is what the arrangement covers, when it began, what has changed it, and how firmly each of those is established.

OmanHosts a military presence belonging toThe United States in the GulfMaintains a presence hosted by
In short

Oman and the United States have kept a facilities-access agreement since 1980, renewed periodically and extended in 2019 to the ports of Duqm and Salalah. Vigil records it as access to published outlets outside the Strait of Hormuz, which is what sets it apart from the three Gulf hosting arrangements.

The United States in the Gulf maintains a presence hosted by Oman. A directional arrangement: the two parties do not hold the same position in it. Authored once and read from both ends.

The arrangement

Status
ActiveIn force and operating. Says nothing about how well it is working, or about which way it is heading.Last material change: 2019-03.
What it covers
DefenceBasingCategories the arrangement is documented to include. Not a measure: a relationship covering more of them is described in more detail, not held more firmly.

Summary

The 1980 facilities-access agreement gave United States forces the use of Omani airfields and ports on request, and has been renewed since; in March 2019 the two governments signed a framework agreement on the use of the ports at Duqm and Salalah, both on the Arabian Sea and both outside the strait. Oman has never hosted a permanent United States command on the Bahraini or Qatari model, and it pairs the arrangement with the region's most durable channel to Tehran. Both ports were struck in the first week of March 2026, and resolution 2817 names Oman among the states attacked. The record states the arrangement's existence, its published scope and its dates, and nothing about use, tempo or what is present.

Why it matters

If the strait stays commercially shut, the outlets that matter are the ones outside it, and Oman's are the only Gulf Arab terminals in that position. The arrangement is the reason Duqm appears in both the Atlas's naval records and the module's logistics thinking, and it is the other half of Oman's position: engagement with Iran and access for the United States, held at once.

Agreements

  • United States–Oman facilities access agreement · signed 1980-06

    Renewed at intervals since; the current text is not public.

  • Framework agreement on the ports of Duqm and Salalah · signed 2019-03

    Publicly announced by both governments as covering access to the two ports; operative terms not authored.

Related events

Organisations

ForceUS Naval Forces Central Command / Fifth FleetForceUS Central CommandForceRoyal Navy of Oman

Structures through which this relationship operates. Not parties to it — the parties are the two actors above.

Places

MapDuqmMapSalalah

Markers this module already publishes. This record adds no geographic precision of its own.

What remains unknown

  • The scope of access under the 2019 framework is described by both governments in general terms only.

All Iran–Gulf relationships Open in Explore

Sensitivity: public-contextual Confidence: High Sources: Congressional Research Service — Iran, the Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz · Gulf state official government sources · Established historical record Methodology Corrections

Assessed as of — 2026-09 Last reviewed — 2026-09-14