Oman's Foreign Minister Calls War Against Iran Trump's Biggest Miscalculation

Foreign Minister of Oman Badr Albusaidi assesses that the war against Iran is the biggest miscalculation of the administration of US President Donald Trump. The cause is the impact resulting from the conflict in the Middle East involving the US ally, Israel.

Cited from CNN on Thursday (19/3/2026), in an opinion piece in The Economist, Oman’s top diplomat, who had mediated talks between Washington and Tehran before the war broke out, urges US allies to step in and help end what he calls an “illegal war.”

Badr Albusaidi describes the war as the “biggest miscalculation” of the Trump administration, outlining its effects on the global economy and regional security.

Gulf countries, including Oman, have for decades purchased US weapons and hosted US bases in the hope of deterring potential Iranian attacks.

The peace and relative prosperity enjoyed by these countries are now threatened, Albusaidi writes, because the US has “lost control over its own foreign policy.”

“The question for America’s friends is simple. What can we do to free that superpower from this unwanted entanglement?” he writes.

“First and foremost, America’s friends have a responsibility to tell the truth. It starts with the fact that there are two parties in this war that gain nothing from it, and that the national interests of Iran and America lie in ending the hostilities as soon as possible.”

Badr Albusaidi adds that it appears Israel has “persuaded” the US that this war would be easily won—but to achieve Israel’s goals, the US must deploy troops on the ground and commit to the kind of endless war that Trump promised to end.