In a highly unusual intervention, the department’s hierarchy overruled its own staff’s assessments of Oman’s deteriorating record on forced labor and human trafficking and inflated its ranking in a congressionally mandated report, U.S. officials told Reuters. The move, which followed protests by Oman, suggests the Obama administration placed diplomatic priorities over human rights to pacify an important Middle East partner…

Oman, they agreed, had not done enough to improve the plight of migrant laborers and domestic workers who make up a large part of its expatriate community.

In June, when the final report is usually published, the advisers to Kerry took an unusual step. They put the entire 382-page document on hold, two sources with knowledge of the process told Reuters.

“Oman was the only hold-up,” said a State Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity.