MUSCAT

Sultan of Oman Qaboos bin Said confirmed on Friday his country's role in promoting peaceful solutions to solve problems between the Gulf countries, according to the official Oman News Agency.

The Sultanate affirms "its keenness to promote understanding, constructive dialogue and cooperation among countries to resolve all the issues in a peaceful way in a secure and stable environment," said Sultan Qaboos at a Cabinet meeting.

On Tuesday, Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Defense Minister Khalid bin Salman met with Sultan Qaboos in an unannounced visit in Muscat after an agreement was signed between the Yemeni government and the United Arab Emirates-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC).

The peaceful Gulf state [Oman] -- which is close to the Strait of Hormuz and Iran -- was diplomatically active in four stalled issues in the region, mostly in Yemen, Palestine and the Gulf crisis along with the political and economic clashes between the U.S. and Iran.

* Bassel Barakat contributed to this report from Ankara