Oman

The Sultanate of Oman continued under Sultan Haitham bin Tariq Al Said, who has served as head of state and Prime Minister since 11 January 2020 following the death of his predecessor Sultan Qaboos bin Said. The 2025/26 cycle was defined politically by Royal Decree No. 17/2026 of 12 January 2026, published in Official Gazette 1630a on 13 January 2026, which reconstituted the Council of Ministers. Under the decree, HH Sayyid Theyazin bin Haitham bin Tariq Al Said was appointed Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs and HH Sayyid Bilarab bin Haitham bin Tariq Al Said was appointed Minister of State and Governor of Muscat. Externally, the cycle was shaped by Oman’s traditional mediation role, including Oman-mediated US-Iran talks in Muscat in April 2025 and February 2026 involving US envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. The economic and reform agenda under Vision 2040 continued during the cycle alongside ongoing fiscal-consolidation reforms.

The Sultanate’s state media architecture in force during the cycle reflected the legacy of Royal Decree No. 95/2020 of 18 August 2020, which abolished four state media bodies (the Public Authority for Radio and Television, the Oman Establishment for Press, News, Publication, and Advertising, the Media Training Centre and the Directorate General of Communications in the Secretariat General of the Council of Ministers) and transferred their allocations, assets, rights, obligations and employees to the Ministry of Information. Royal Decree No. 90/2020 separately established the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology through the merger of two predecessor ministries. Dr Abdullah Nasser bin Khalifa Al-Harrasi has served as Minister of Information since the 2020 restructuring, with Mohammed bin Said Al-Balushi as Undersecretary under Royal Decree No. 19/2022. The cycle saw the implementation of Oman’s new Media Law, issued by Royal Decree No. 58/2024, and its executive regulation, issued by Ministerial Decision No. 165/2025, which consolidated Ministry authority over licensing and media activity. Reporters Without Borders ranked Oman 127th of 180 countries in the 2026 World Press Freedom Index with a score of 43.67, an improvement from 134th and 42.29 in 2025, with the sub-indicator profile dominated by a particularly weak legal indicator, 160th with a score of 27.94, alongside a stronger security indicator, 74th with a score of 84.52.

The Sultanate’s SMM-tracked state media comprise three entities, all classified as State-Controlled (SC) for the 2026 cycle. Oman State Broadcasting, operating Oman TV and Radio Oman, formerly organised under PART before its abolition by Royal Decree No. 95/2020, and Oman State Press Publishing, operating Oman Daily, Oman Daily Observer and Nizwa Magazine, formerly organised under OEPPA before its abolition by the same decree, now operate as Ministry of Information internal operations. The Oman News Agency (ONA), established by Royal Decree No. 39/86 of 29 May 1986 and transferred to the Ministry of Information by Royal Decree No. 75/2006, has operated continuously under direct Ministry supervision since 2006. The 2025/26 cycle produced no governance, funding or editorial reform sufficient to change the SC classification of any of the three entities.

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