Iranian ambassador to Oman Ali Akbar Sibaveh has said that Iran will repay Oman for its efforts at bringing together the Islamic Republic and world powers to sign a nuclear deal by forming an economic bloc with the sultanate and route its trade with the region through it. “Friends at times of need are few and Oman stood with us through thick and thin, and we do not forget our friends,” the ambassador told Al Atheer news site. Sibaveh said that Iran has been investing in the sultanate for three years and plans to increase its investment in the coming years by bringing modern Iranian technology and linking its trade with Africa and east Asia, particularly gas exports, through Oman, adding that the new port of Duqm will become Iran’s main gateway for trade with Gulf states. Among the projects planned in Oman are a nanotechnology plant, a car factory in Duqm that will produce four types of Iranian cars, and a hospital complex in the northern coastal city of Barka comprising three buildings 30-storey tall, he told the news site. Tehran will also facilitate a boost in Oman’s tourism sector by encouraging visits to the southern city of Salalah, and inaugurating next week a new flight route between Oman and the Iranian city of Chahbar on the Sea of Oman. (Gulf News)