Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met Oman's new sultan Tuesday on his last leg of a Gulf tour amid regional tensions after the US killing of a top Iranian general.
Abe and Haitham bin Tareq, who took office last week following the death of long-serving Sultan Qaboos, agreed to cooperate for regional stability and to develop their bilateral relations, said a Japanese foreign ministry statement.
Abe also offered his condolences for the death of Sultan Qaboos, who died Friday aged 79. Under Qaboos, Muscat acted as a regional and international go-between, including during a discreet dialogue between Tehran and Washington that led to a 2015 deal over Iran's nuclear programme. US President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from the accord in 2018, reimposing sanctions and a campaign of "maximum pressure" against Tehran.
Abe's Gulf trip had initially been thrown into doubt after the US on January 3 killed the head of Iran's Quds Force, Qasem Soleimani.
Iran responded by launching a barrage of missiles at bases hosting American troops in Iraq.