Salalah

Salalah is Oman's second city and principal port on the Arabian Sea, located in Dhofar Governorate approximately 1,000 km south of Muscat. Its deep-water container terminal, operated by a Maersk-Oman joint venture, is one of the largest transshipment hubs in the Arabian Sea, ranking among the top 50 globally by TEU throughput. On 19-20 April 2026, IRGC drones struck the port complex, injuring one expatriate worker and damaging a quayside crane — the first direct Iranian attack on Omani soil since the conflict began and a significant escalation given Oman's role as back-channel mediator.

In strategic terms, Salalah's position on the Arabian Sea places it approximately 1,100 km from the Iranian coast, outside the effective range of Iran's primary land-based anti-ship Ballistic missile systems. On 7 April 2026, the USS Abraham Lincoln strike group shifted to waters off Salalah, simultaneously with the USS Gerald R. Ford's repositioning north to Jeddah, placing the carrier outside Iran's dense anti-ship envelope. The carrier's presence did not deter the subsequent IRGC drone strike.

Oman has maintained careful neutrality throughout the US-Iran conflict, serving as a back-channel host in past Iran nuclear negotiations. Muscat publicly condemned the April drone attack but did not formally reattribute it to Iran by name. On 26 April, Foreign Minister Araghchi visited Sultan Haitham in Muscat; IRNA reported on 27 April that Iran and Oman are drafting a bilateral transit protocol for the Strait of Hormuz, carrying a toll-collection mechanism that would route Iran's charges through Omani territorial waters, placing them outside CENTCOM's enforcement geometry.