Three defining events of 1979: Burning of Makkah’s Grand Mosque. Soviet tank in Kabul. Ayatollah Khomeini’s return to Tehran. AFP/Getty Images/AFP
1 / 3
Three defining events of 1979: Burning of Makkah’s Grand Mosque. Soviet tank in Kabul. Ayatollah Khomeini’s return to Tehran. AFP/Getty Images/AFP
Three defining events of 1979: Burning of Makkah’s Grand Mosque. Soviet tank in Kabul. Ayatollah Khomeini’s return to Tehran. AFP/Getty Images/AFP
2 / 3
Three defining events of 1979: Burning of Makkah’s Grand Mosque. Soviet tank in Kabul. Ayatollah Khomeini’s return to Tehran. AFP/Getty Images/AFP
Three defining events of 1979: Burning of Makkah’s Grand Mosque. Soviet tank in Kabul. Ayatollah Khomeini’s return to Tehran. AFP/Getty Images/AFP
3 / 3
Three defining events of 1979: Burning of Makkah’s Grand Mosque. Soviet tank in Kabul. Ayatollah Khomeini’s return to Tehran. AFP/Getty Images/AFP

1979 - The Iranian Revolution, the siege of Makkah, and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan

Short Url
Updated 22 April 2025
Follow

1979 - The Iranian Revolution, the siege of Makkah, and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan

1979 - The Iranian Revolution, the siege of Makkah, and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan
  • The seismic events of 1979 reshaped the Middle East, fueling extremism, regional hostilities, and global conflicts that continue to reverberate even now

RIYADH: In a region in which major geopolitical events are almost commonplace, the trio of seismic shocks that erupted in 1979 made it a year like no other. 

A single thread connected the Iranian revolution, the siege of Makkah and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan: The birth of a brand of Islamic extremism that would have catastrophic consequences for millions, with repercussions that continue to reverberate around the entire world to this day. 

The first rumblings began the previous year, amid widespread disquiet in Iran at the increasingly oppressive rule of Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, whose “White Revolution” reforms were seen by many as pushing the Westernization of the country too far, too quickly. 

A religious demonstration in January 1978 in the city of Qom, a center of Shiite scholarship 130 kilometers southwest of the capital, Tehran, was broken up violently when security forces opened fire, killing as many as 300 protesters, mainly seminary students. 

Demonstrations spread to cities across the country, culminating by the end of the year in widespread strikes and protests amid demands that the shah step down and Grand Ayatollah Khomeini be allowed to return from exile in France. 

On Jan. 16, 1979, the shah and his family left Iran, never to return. On Feb. 1, Khomeini arrived at Mehrabad Airport in Tehran, stepping off an Air France flight from Paris after 15 years in exile to a tumultuous welcome by millions of Iranians. 

Within 10 days, the last remaining vestiges of the old regime had collapsed and Shapour Bakhtiar, the prime minister appointed by the shah barely a month earlier, fled into exile. 

How we wrote it




The newspaper covered the Iranian government’s “first major crisis” as pro-Shah troops clashed with demonstrators in Ahwaz, reigniting tensions amidst a concurrent earthquake.

On April 1, 1979, the results of a national referendum were revealed and, with the support of more than 98 percent of the voters, Khomeini declared the creation of the Islamic Republic of Iran, of which he would be supreme leader. 

The Iranian Revolution was founded on a sectarian constitutional basis that emphasized the export of its revolutionary ideology, and so it fueled sectarian tensions across the region. 

The revolution introduced the Guardianship of the Jurist theory (Wilayat Al-Faqih), a sectarian principle that positions the Islamic jurist, or expert on Islamic law, above the state and its people, granting him ultimate authority over foreign relations and national security. 

Crucially, the guardian jurist perceives himself to be the leader of all Muslims worldwide, his authority not limited to Iranians or even Shiites. It was this claim of universal leadership that most alarmed other countries in the region, as the theory disregards state sovereignty, promotes sectarian groups, and grants the revolutionary regime the “right” to intervene in the affairs of other nations. 

The new Islamic Republic’s commitment to the principle of exporting its revolution further exacerbated regional hostilities, with the Iran-Iraq War that broke out in 1980 serving as a flash point. 

Iran’s revolutionary agenda had sought to undermine Iraq, a pivotal Arab country, by inciting and supporting Shiite groups and militias with training, financial aid and weapons. Ultimately, it would be these groups that formed the basis of the militias Iran leveraged extensively after the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, when Saddam Hussein’s Baath regime fell. 

It was not long before the fears among Iran’s neighbors that the revolution would spread throughout the region appeared to be realized. 

Key Dates

  • 1

    The shah and his family flee Iran.

    Timeline Image Jan. 16, 1979

  • 2

    Ayatollah Khomeini returns to Tehran after 15 years in exile.

    Timeline Image Feb. 1, 1979

  • 3

    Angered by Washington’s refusal to return the shah for trial, revolutionaries seize the US Embassy in Tehran and hold 52 Americans hostage for 444 days.

  • 4

    Religious extremists seize control of the Grand Mosque of Makkah.

    Timeline Image Nov. 20, 1979

  • 5

    Call to noon prayer brings thousands of worshippers to the mosque for the first time in three weeks.

  • 6

    Soviet troops invade Afghanistan.

    Timeline Image Dec. 25, 1979

  • 7

    Last detachment of Soviet troops leaves Afghanistan.

    Timeline Image Feb. 15, 1989

On Nov. 20, 1979, following the dawn prayer in the Grand Mosque of Makkah, more than 200 armed men, led by Juhayman Al-Otaibi, a religious extremist, seized the sacred site and announced that the long-awaited Mahdi, the harbinger of the day of judgment, prophesied to bring justice after a period of oppression, had appeared. This supposed Mahdi was Al-Otaibi’s brother-in-law, Mohammed Al-Qahtani. 

Al-Otaibi instructed his followers to lock the doors of the mosque and position snipers atop its minarets, which overlook Makkah. Meanwhile, the man identified as the Mahdi, who believed himself to be under divine protection, was swiftly shot by Saudi special forces when he appeared during the clashes without protection. 

The siege of Makkah continued for 14 days, ending with the capture and execution of Al-Otaibi and dozens of his surviving fellow insurgents. 

While there was no evidence to suggest direct Iranian involvement in the seizure of the Grand Mosque, the revolutionary climate in Iran provided ideological inspiration for many extremist movements and armed organizations during that period. 

The Saudi government’s robust response to the siege sent a clear and unequivocal message to extremist factions: rebellion and violent ideologies would not be tolerated. This strategy of deterrence proved instrumental in safeguarding the Kingdom from further violence and bloodshed. 

How we wrote it




Arab News reported the siege’s end, citing 75 “renegades” killed, 135 captured, and 60 Saudi soldiers dead “in the service of God.”

But 1979 had a further shock in store. On Dec. 25, just over a month after the siege of Makkah ended, Soviet troops invaded Afghanistan. 

The invasion took place during a period of intense political instability in the country. In 1978, President Mohammed Daoud Khan and his family were overthrown and killed by Nur Mohammed Taraki, a Communist. 

Taraki’s rule was short-lived; his former political party comrade, Hafizullah Amin, seized power and killed him. Amin’s attempts to align Afghanistan more closely with the US prompted the Soviets to orchestrate his assassination, replacing him with Babrak Karmal, a more reliable Communist, thereby securing a more compliant leadership. 

The Soviet intervention was driven by a combination of motives. Economically, Afghanistan’s wealth of natural resources made it a valuable target. Politically, the invasion aimed to help prop up the faltering Communist regime and ensure no hostile government emerged in Afghanistan, a key neighbor within the Soviet Union’s immediate geopolitical sphere. 

This was particularly critical within the broader context of the Cold War, in which the US was actively working to counter Soviet influence by encircling the Soviet Union and curbing its expansionist ambitions. 

How we wrote it




Arab News reported Afghan minister Muhammad Abdo Yamani urging Austria to demand Soviet forces “out” of Afghanistan and suggesting an embargo to pressure their withdrawal.

The Soviet army faced strong resistance in Afghanistan from the Islamist Mujahideen, who received substantial support from international powers, particularly the US and its regional allies, and in the end the intervention proved futile. 

For 10 years the Soviet Union endured significant human and material losses in Afghanistan but failed to regain control and political stability in the country through the political system they endorsed. This system lacked popular legitimacy and controlled only limited territory, with the rest of the country remaining under the control of opposition forces. 

All these factors finally compelled the Soviet army to withdraw from Afghanistan after almost a decade. A subsequent civil war culminated in Taliban coming to power in 1996. 

The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan had far-reaching consequences. Geopolitically, it exposed the limitations of the Soviet army, and the failure in Afghanistan coincided with internal political and economic decline within the Soviet Union, its inability to compete with the US in the arms race, and the outbreak of popular uprisings in countries that had adopted the socialist model. 

As such, the invasion is widely regarded as a major contributing factor in the eventual collapse of the Soviet Union. 




Afghan resistance fighters repelled the Soviet invasion with immense human cost and significant Western, especially US, aid. An estimated 1.5 million Afghans died in the conflict. AFP

The war also became a breeding ground for extremist jihadist movements. Arabs and Muslims who joined the Afghan resistance found the conflict to be a unifying platform, drawing leaders and fighters from several countries in the Islamic world. 

Upon returning to their homelands, these individuals brought with them military expertise and radical ideologies. This environment facilitated the establishment of terrorist organizations, as these veterans sought to replicate the armed struggle to overthrow regimes in their own countries. 

The most prominent product of this phenomenon was Saudi-born Osama bin Laden, who fought alongside the Mujahideen against the Soviets in Afghanistan. He founded the terror group Al-Qaeda, which emerged as a leading force among extremist religious organizations. 

Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda played a central role in the global wave of terrorism that culminated in the 9/11 attacks on the US, and all the repercussions that followed. These included the invasion of Afghanistan by a US-led coalition in 2001, and the rise of Iranian-backed terror groups in Iraq following the overthrow of Saddam Hussein in 2003, which ultimately led to the rise of Daesh. 

  • Dr. Mohammed Al-Sulami is head of the International Institute for Iranian Studies (Rasanah). 


Pakistan forms committee to tackle possible economic fallout of Israel-Iran conflict — adviser

Pakistan forms committee to tackle possible economic fallout of Israel-Iran conflict — adviser
Updated 6 min 10 sec ago
Follow

Pakistan forms committee to tackle possible economic fallout of Israel-Iran conflict — adviser

Pakistan forms committee to tackle possible economic fallout of Israel-Iran conflict — adviser
  • Oil prices jump 7 percent on fears of disrupted Middle East exports
  • Analysts warn of economic and security risks for Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has formed a high-level committee led by the finance minister to monitor any possible economic impact of the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran, a senior government adviser said on Sunday, as rising oil prices threaten to add new pressure on the South Asian nation’s fragile economy.

Oil prices have climbed about 7 percent since Friday, with Brent crude closing at $74.23 a barrel after hitting a session high of $78.50, amid fears of supply disruptions if Middle East tensions escalate further.

“The prime minister has constituted a committee under the supervision of the finance minister, which will monitor the situation,” Khurram Schehzad, an adviser at the finance ministry, told Arab News.

“The committee will assess the impact of the changes and volatility in oil prices on fiscal and external sides, and devise a strategy to pacify the impacts on Pakistan’s economy.”

Pakistan relies heavily on imported oil, and any sustained spike in prices could widen its current account deficit and push inflation higher at a time when the country is struggling with low foreign reserves and slow growth.

Israel and Iran launched fresh attacks on each other overnight into Sunday, killing scores. The conflict started on Friday when Israel launched a massive wave of attacks targeting Iranian nuclear and military facilities but also hitting residential areas, sparking retaliation and fears of a broader regional conflict.

A 909 kilometer (565 mile) long international boundary separates Iran’s southeastern Sistan-Baluchestan province from Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province. 

“Israel-Iran conflict presents complex challenges for Pakistan as rising oil prices may increase import costs and inflation, influencing monetary policy and growth, while disruptions to key routes like the Strait of Hormuz can affect energy supplies and critical projects,” said Khaqan Najeeb, an economist and former finance ministry adviser.

“It can potentially affect consumer purchasing power and production costs ... Possible disruptions to shipping routes and higher freight charges might result in delays to imports and exports, thereby exerting additional pressure on Pakistan’s external sector.”

DIPLOMATIC BALANCING

As the crisis deepens, analysts widely believe Islamabad should maintain “careful diplomatic balancing” between its ties with Iran and its other partners in the Gulf, as well as the United States.

“Diplomatically, Pakistan has to navigate a balanced and principled stance, honoring its historic ties with Iran alongside its strategic relationships with the US and Gulf partners, emphasizing dialogue and regional stability.”

Former Defense Secretary Lt Gen (retired) Naeem Lodhi said Israel was unlikely to target Pakistan directly but an expanding conflict could complicate matters for Islamabad, adding that it should remain vigilant but avoid “deeper” involvement.

“If the war expands to include more Middle Eastern countries, some of which are friendly to Pakistan, then it would be a difficult proposition for Islamabad... whose side it takes,” Lodhi added. 

Former Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhry said Pakistan would respond “forcefully” if directly targeted.

“Israel knows that Pakistan has the capacity to hit back hard,” Chaudhry said, referring to a May 2025 military confrontation with India in which Islamabad retaliated to New Delhi’s strikes, taking down fighter jets and hitting airfields, air bases and other military facilities.

Pakistan’s former ambassador to Iran, Asif Durrani, warned that the crisis could spill over if not contained.

“Not only Pakistan, but the entire Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region can be engulfed if the ongoing spat between Israel and Iran turns into an all-out war,” Durrani said.

However, he said the likelihood of a refugee crisis was limited unless the conflict escalated into a ground invasion.

“A refugee influx is possible if it becomes a full-fledged war, but Israel or the United States are unlikely to commit boots on the ground in Iran,” Durrani added. 

Qamar Cheema, executive director of the Sanober Institute think tank, said Pakistani security forces should increase patrols and surveillance in border districts as the conflict could impact militant groups operating along the Iran-Pakistan border region, such as Baloch separatists and other sectarian outfits.

“Whenever such a situation arises, separatist and sectarian outfits often try to take advantage of it, either by increasing their activities or by shifting them from their hideouts inside Iranian territories,” he said. 

“Their movement is likely to intensify if the threat reaches the border region.”


Two killed, 32 injured after bridge collapses at tourist destination in India’s Maharashtra

Two killed, 32 injured after bridge collapses at tourist destination in India’s Maharashtra
Updated 16 min 45 sec ago
Follow

Two killed, 32 injured after bridge collapses at tourist destination in India’s Maharashtra

Two killed, 32 injured after bridge collapses at tourist destination in India’s Maharashtra
  • Incident occurred in Kundamala area in Pune district, which has witnessed heavy rains over the past few days
  • It was not raining when the bridge collapsed in an area frequented by picnickers, PTI news agency reported

NEW DELHI: At least two people died and 32 others were injured after an iron bridge over a river collapsed at a popular tourist destination in India’s western Maharashtra state, the state’s top elected official said Sunday.

At least six people were rescued and hospitalized in critical condition, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis wrote on social media platform X.

The incident occurred in Kundamala area in Pune district, which has witnessed heavy rains over the past few days, giving the river a steady flow, Press Trust of India reported.

It was not raining when the bridge collapsed in an area frequented by picnickers, the news agency reported.

Police said teams of the National Disaster Response Force and other search and recovery units have undertaken rescue operations, Press Trust reported.

Rescue work at the scene has been accelerated, Fadnavis said.


Saudi artist Ahaad Alamoudi presents ‘The Social Health Club’ in Basel 

Saudi artist Ahaad Alamoudi presents ‘The Social Health Club’ in Basel 
Saudi artist  Ahaad Alamoudi presents ‘The Social Health Club’ in Basel 
Updated 27 min 45 sec ago
Follow

Saudi artist Ahaad Alamoudi presents ‘The Social Health Club’ in Basel 

Saudi artist Ahaad Alamoudi presents ‘The Social Health Club’ in Basel 

RIYADH: This month, Saudi artist Ahaad Alamoudi is turning up the heat at Basel Social Club — which runs until June 21 in the Swiss city — with her latest installation, “The Social Health Club.” 

Freshly conceived, but rooted in the artist’s past works, the yellow-drenched installation offers a layered, sensory experience — and sharp cultural commentary — as well as a first for the artist: a live-performance element. 

Jeddah-based Alamoudi is known for creating immersive multimedia installations drawing from and exploring the complex dynamics of her evolving homeland. “The Social Health Club” is built around pieces found in Jeddah’s Haraj market in 2018 — a range of exercise equipment including a rowing machine.  

Ahaad Alamoudi. (Supplied)

“These are pieces I collected from thrifting. I like the fact that no instructions came with the machines — I don’t have their name or the source of where they came from or who made them. But they’ve become part of the urban landscape that I’ve been in. And I was trying to create fun within the space,” Alamoudi told Arab News. 

In “The Social Health Club,” the equipment, painted predominantly in vibrantly-saturated monochrome yellow, stands untouched, serving as symbols of a culture obsessed with self-optimization. At the core of the installation is a cameo from a yellow-painted iron previously featured in her 2020 video work “Makwah Man.” (Makwah means iron in Arabic.) 

 Part of Ahaad Alamoudi's 'The Social Health Club' at Basel Social Club. (Supplied)

“A lot of my pieces stem from a narrative I create within a video. In ‘Makwah Man,’ this man wearing a yellow thobe is ironing a long piece of yellow fabric in the middle of the desert. And as he’s ironing, he tells us how to live our lives. But in the process of him telling us how to live our lives, he also starts questioning his own in the process — understanding the role of power, understanding the pressure of change, adaptation,” Alamoudi explained. 

“The yellow exists within the video piece, but he’s also wearing yellow thobe in the video piece. And (in this iteration at Art Basel) there’s also a rack of yellow thobes twirling in the exhibition. For me, the yellow thobe is like a unifying symbol. I’m trying to say that we’re all experiencing this in different ways. So in the performance (for “The Social Health Club”) a man (a local body builder) in a yellow thobe will be performing on these machines. He has no rule book. He doesn’t know anything; he doesn’t know how to ‘properly’ use the equipment. He’s going to go into the space and do things with the machines. 

“The performance will be recorded. But I think it’s more like an activation,” she continued. “It’s not the piece itself. The piece itself exists as the machines.” 

“The Social Health Club” was shaped through close collaboration with curator Amal Khalaf, who combed Jeddah’s market with Alamoudi in search of “machines that were a little bit abnormal, like not your typical machines that people would directly know what it is in the gym,” Alamoudi said.  

“She’s quite incredible,” she continued. “And we really built the space together. Essentially, the main thing that I created was the video; everything else was built off of that. She really helped. She really looked at social change and how we navigate that. Our collaboration was perfect.” 

Yellow dominates every inch of the piece—deliberately and intensely. 

“I obsess over symbols within certain works I create. And with that also comes a color,” Alamoudi said. “I wanted to showcase something that was luxurious, colorful, almost like gold, but it’s not gold. It’s quite stark in its appearance.” 

Yellow is both invitation and warning. “I think that yellow is also quite deceptive. I like it as a color to get people excited to come closer and see what’s happening, but at the same time question what it is — it’s so aggressive that it becomes a bit uncomfortable.” 

 A still from Alamoudi's 2020 video work 'Makwah Man,' which is also part of 'The Social Health Club'. (Supplied)

The viewer’s interaction is critical to the piece’s meaning. 

“I think the machines represent something and they carry something, but they really are activated by the people — what people are doing with them,” Alamoudi said. “And that’s why I’m encouraging a lot of viewers to engage with and use the pieces, or try to use them without any instruction. A lot of people entering into the space (might) fear even touching or engaging with them. Having the performer there activating the structures is going to add another layer to the piece itself.” 

She hopes visitors feel free to explore, unburdened by expectations. 

“People are meant to use it any way that they want to use it. They can sit on it, stand on it, touch it — they can leave it alone,” she concluded with a laugh. 


Ukraine’s Sumy region on edge as Russian advance closes in

Ukraine’s Sumy region on edge as Russian advance closes in
Updated 15 June 2025
Follow

Ukraine’s Sumy region on edge as Russian advance closes in

Ukraine’s Sumy region on edge as Russian advance closes in
  • Ukraine held swathes of the territory for eight months, until a spring offensive by Russian forces supported by North Korean troops pushed them back

STETS’KIVKA: Despite the driving rain, a few elderly residents wander into the streets of Stetskivka in northeast Ukraine to catch a yellow bus to go shopping in nearby Sumy, the regional capital.
They are worried about the Russian drones that have been striking the area with increasing regularity, more than three years into Moscow’s invasion.
“I’m afraid. Nobody knows what could happen to the bus we take,” Galyna Golovko, 69, told AFP at the small shop she runs near the bus stop.
Golovko said she never goes out in the morning or evening when Russian drones criss-cross the sky.
“It’s scary how many drones fly in the morning.... In the morning and in the evening it’s just hell,” she said.
The border with the neighboring Russian region of Kursk is just 17 kilometers (11 miles) away.
The Sumy region was the starting point for a Ukrainian incursion into Kursk last year.
Ukraine held swathes of the territory for eight months, until a spring offensive by Russian forces supported by North Korean troops pushed them back.
Moscow has since advanced toward the city of Sumy, taking several villages along the way and forcing mandatory evacuations of civilian residents.
At the Stetskivka bus stop, an elderly woman said she had packed up in case Russian troops arrive in town, where Ukrainian soldiers have replaced a pre-war population of 5,500 people.
The town is just 10 kilometers from the front line, and residents said there is heavy fighting nearby.
Beyond Stetskivka, “everything has been destroyed, there is not a single village,” Golovko said.
On her shop counter, there was a plastic box with a few banknotes — donations for a local family that lost its home, destroyed by a Russian glide bomb.


Ten kilometers to the south lies Sumy, a city that had 255,000 inhabitants before the war.
So far, restaurants are crowded and there seems little concern about the Russian advance.
But buildings in the city bear the scars of Russian bombardments.
And, when the sounds of car horns go down in the evenings, explosions can be heard in the distance.
The streets are lined with concrete bunkers against the increasingly frequent strikes from Russia, which has said it wants to set up a “buffer zone” to prevent future Ukrainian incursions.
“The enemy is trying to advance,” said Anvar, commander of the drone battalion of the 225th regiment, which is leading the defense of the region.
“We are pushing them back. Sometimes we advance, sometimes they do,” he told AFP in an apartment that serves as a base for his unit.
“We still have troops in the Kursk region. Nobody has tried to drive them out,” he said, calling the conflict in the region a “war of positions.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday said the Russian offensive in Sumy had been stopped, just a day after Russian forces said they had captured another village in the region.


Sitting next to Anvar, one of his men soldered microprocessors in silence, except for electronic clicking that made the room feel like a laboratory.
Surrounded by 3D printers and piles of batteries, the members of the brigade are busy transforming Chinese drones into flying weapons.
“It is now a drone war,” the commander said.
Anvar said that Russia was continually sending “cannon fodder” along this part of the front to try and overwhelm Ukrainian troops.
“I know people who have gone mad because of the number of people they manage to kill in a day.”
Russian soldiers “continue marching calmly” amid the bodies of their fallen comrades, he said.
In Stetskivka, Golovko voiced confidence that Ukrainian soldiers would hold the line and said she was “not going anywhere.”
“I will stay at home,” she said tearfully, beating the counter with her fist.
“I have traveled to Russia. We have friends there, and relatives. Everything was fine before.
“One day, this madness will end. The madness that Putin unleashed will end,” she said in a shaky voice.
fv/dt/jhb


Oman residential property prices jump 7.3% in Q1 on land demand

Oman residential property prices jump 7.3% in Q1 on land demand
Updated 44 min 36 sec ago
Follow

Oman residential property prices jump 7.3% in Q1 on land demand

Oman residential property prices jump 7.3% in Q1 on land demand
  • Jump driven by 6.5% rise in residential land prices
  • Apartment prices rose 17% in May, while villas gained 6.4%

RIYADH: Oman’s residential property prices climbed 7.3 percent year on year in the first quarter of 2025, led by a sharp increase in residential land values, official figures showed.

According to data from the National Center for Statistics and Information, the jump was driven by a 6.5 percent rise in residential land prices, which form the largest component of the real estate index. 

The gain reflects a broader regional upswing in property activity during early 2025. In the Kingdom, residential property prices rose 4.3 percent in the first quarter. The UAE continued to post strong gains, with Dubai prices climbing 16.5 percent and Abu Dhabi villa prices increasing 4.4 percent over the same period. In Qatar, real estate transactions reached 1.27 billion Qatari riyals ($350 million) in March alone.

Oman is working to ramp up housing supply as part of its Vision 2040 strategy, aiming to deliver 62,800 new residential units by 2030. Some 5,500 of these are expected to hit the market in 2025, according to consultancy Cavendish Maxwell.

NCSI data also showed strong momentum within individual property types. Apartment prices rose 17 percent in May, while villas gained 6.4 percent, and prices for other residential units increased 2.2 percent. The overall residential real estate price index grew 5.5 percent quarter on quarter in the first three months.

Oman is working to ramp up housing supply as part of its Vision 2040 strategy, aiming to deliver 62,800 new residential units by 2030. File/Reuters

On an annual basis, land prices climbed 5.5 percent, apartment prices rose 4.3 percent, and villa prices increased 4.5 percent. Other home types saw the steepest gains, rising 13.4 percent compared to the same period last year.

At the governorate level, Muscat led the price growth with a 17.4 percent increase in residential land values year on year in the first quarter. Musandam followed with a 12.8 percent rise, while Al-Batinah North and South recorded gains of 7.3 percent and 6.1 percent, respectively. Dhofar and Ash Sharqiyah South posted more moderate increases.

However, the gains were not uniform across the country. Al Buraimi saw residential land prices plummet 35.1 percent, followed by declines in Al Dhahirah at 25.3 percent, Al Wusta at 20.4 percent, Ad Dakhiliyah at 3.7 percent, and Ash Sharqiyah North at 0.8 percent.

Oman’s real estate market ended 2024 on a strong note, with total transaction values rising 28.1 percent year on year to 3.13 billion Omani rials ($8.13 billion) by November, according to NCSI.

In a bid to attract foreign capital and stimulate development, the sultanate has rolled out a series of reforms, including relaxed ownership restrictions for non-citizens and new tax incentives aimed at boosting investor confidence.