Assad visits Gulf nation of Oman

Syrian President Bashar Assad visited the Gulf nation of Oman on Monday on his first official visit since the deadly February 6 earthquake. Assad was received by Sultan Haitham bin Tariq, Oman’s leader.

Oman is one of a few Arab countries that kept normal relations with Damascus after Syria was suspended from the Arab League in 2011 over its crackdown on Arab Spring protests.The deadly earthquakein Turkiye and Syria has brought a further thawing in relations between Assad and other Arab states.Since the quake, United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan met with Assad, while other Arab countries that had cut relations with Syria during the war have delivered aid to Damascus.