Sultan Qaboos bin Said, who modernized Oman, dies at 79

Oman's Sultan Qaboos bin Said, the Mideast's longest-ruling monarch who seized power in a 1970 palace coup and pulled his Arabian sultanate into modernity while carefully balancing diplomatic ties between adversaries Iran and the US, has died. He was 79.

The state-run Oman News Agency announced his death late Friday on its official Twitter account. The sultan was believed to have been in poor health and traveled to Belgium for what the court described as a medical checkup last month. The royal court declared three days of mourning.

The news agency mourned the death of the Sultan and praised the "towering renaissance" he had presided over. It said his "balanced policy" of mediating between rival camps in a volatile region had earned the world's respect.