Oman - Government In February 1980 Sultan Qaboos agreed, in principle, to the future use by US forces of Masirah Island, off the east coast of Oman, as an emergency military base. In June of that year Oman and the USA signed a defence pact whereby, in exchange for US military and economic aid and a US commitment to Oman´s security, Oman would grant the use of port and air base facilities in the Gulf to US forces. In May 1981 Oman joined with five other Gulf states to form the Co-operation Council for the Arab States - GCC). Following the conclusion of the Iran-Iraq War, Oman (which, in common with other Arab powers, had tended to condemn Iran´s conduct in the region) adopted a more conciliatory policy towards that country. Oman and Iran established an economic co-operation committee in March 1989, and in September 1992 the two signed an agreement to increase economic co-operation and trade, particularly in the transport and shipping sectors. In response to the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq in August 1990, Oman, together with the other members of the GCC, gave its support to the deployment of a US-led defensive force in Saudi Arabia. The Omani Government expressed the view that the imposition of international economic sanctions would compel Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait. In November there was evidence that Oman had attempted to mediate in the crisis, when the Iraqi Minister of Foreign Affairs, Tareq Aziz, visited Oman (the first official Iraqi visit to a GCC state, other than Kuwait, since the Gulf crisis began). By the mid- 1990s Oman´s stance regarding the prolongation of economic sanctions against Iraq appeared ambivalent: Oman and Qatar were, notably, absent from talks held in March 1995 between the US Secretary of State, Warren Christopher, and other members of the GCC to discuss the continued maintenance of sanctions against Iraq. Oman was one of the last bastions of the Middle Ages under a reigning sultan, Said bin Taimur, who sought to isolate the country from contaminating modern influence. Muscat was still literally a walled city, its gates closed and locked at sundown. In 1970, Sultan Said was removed in a palace coup with the assistance of the British and replaced by his British educated son, Qaboos bin Said, with whom Oman´s story as a modern nation begins. In November 1997 Oman expressed its opposition to possible military action. to force Iraq to submit to inspections of its weapons capabilities by the UN Special Commission; In early 1998, as the crisis regarding UNSCOM inspections deepened, Oman again urged the pursuit of a diplomatic solution. In February Oman´s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs expressed Oman´s opinion that, should the UN Secretary-General´s, mission to Baghdad prove successful in facilitating the completion of UNSCOM´s operations, the UN should then remove the economic sanctions against Iraq. In April 1992 the Omani Government reached an agreement with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to relax restrictions in order to allow nationals to travel between the two countries without a passport. In May the President of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Zayed an-Nahyan, visited Oman for negotiations, as a result of which diplomatic representation between the two countries was raised to ambassadorial level. In July 1995 Oman and Saudi Arabia officially demarcated their joint border.