Haitham bin Tariq

Haitham bin Tariq attended Pembroke College, University of Oxford, graduating from the Foreign Service Programme (FSP) in 1979.[6]

Haitham's father was Tariq bin Taimur, son of Sultan Taimur bin Feisal. He has six brothers and two sisters. His half-brother Asa'ad bin Tariq was the Deputy Prime Minister for relations and international cooperation affairs and his full brother Shihab bin Tariq is the Deputy Prime Minister for Defense Affairs. His other brothers, Talal, Qais, Adham, and Faris, are all businessmen and are not involved in politics. He has four children, two sons and two daughters. His eldest son Dhi Yazan bin Haitham is the Crown Prince of Oman.[7]

Haitham is described as "outward-looking and Western-oriented".[8]

A sports enthusiast, he served as the first head of the Oman Football Association in the early 1980s.[9] He served as the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for Political Affairs from 1986 to 1994, and was later appointed as the Secretary General for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1994–2002).[10][11] He was later appointed as the Minister of Heritage and Culture in March 2002 and later chaired the national census committee in 2003.[12] He usually represented Oman abroad in a diplomatic capacity;[13] in 2016, he personally welcomed Prince Charles and Camilla on a visit to the country.[14]

He is also chairman of the committee for the future vision of "Oman 2040″ along with being honorary president of the Oman Association for the Disabled.[15]

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo meets with Sultan Haitham bin Tariq, 21 February 2020

After the death of his first cousin Sultan Qaboos on 10 January 2020, Haitham bin Tariq was named by the royal family and Qaboos's will as Sultan of Oman the next day and took an oath before an emergency session of the Council of Oman in Al-Bustan.[16] Oman state TV said the former sultan's letter was opened by the Defence Council and his identity was announced shortly thereafter.[17] As sultan, he also held the positions of prime minister, supreme commander of the armed forces, minister of defence, minister of finance, and minister of foreign affairs until 18 August 2020 when he appointed Sayyid Badr bin Hamad bin Hamood Al Busaidi as minister of foreign affairs and Sultan bin Salem bin Saeed al-Habsi as minister of finance.[18][19] In his first public speech, he promised to uphold his predecessor's peace-making foreign policy and to further develop Oman's economy.[14][20] Haitham bin Tariq is married and, unlike his predecessor, also has children, two sons and two daughters.[21][22]

In January 2021, by a decree of Sultan Haitham bin Tariq, Oman would appoint Sultan's eldest son, Theyazin bin Haitham as the first Crown prince of Oman.[23] He also changed the State Basic Law to grant citizens and residents living in Oman freedom of expression and opinion, removed a law that allowed the state to monitor private phone conversations, social media or postal correspondence and granted the freedom to practice religious rites according to recognized customs provided it does not violate the public order or contradict morals.[24]

Styles of The Sultan of Oman
Reference style	His Majesty
Spoken style	Your Majesty

National honours

• Grand Master of the Order of Al-Said
• Grand Master of the Order of Oman
• Grand Master of the Order of the Renaissance of Oman
• Grand Master of the Order of Sultan Qaboos
• Order of Al-Russoukh, 1st class (23 November 2010).

Foreign honours

•  Austria: Grand Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria (31 March 2001).
•  Saudi Arabia: Order of King Abdulaziz, 1st class (24 December 2006).
•  United Kingdom: Honorary Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order (GCVO, 26 November 2010).