Trump threatens to bomb Oman if it “gets in the way” of Hormuz talks with Iran

U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to bomb Oman if the country “gets in the way” of Washington’s efforts to forge a peace agreement with Iran, according to Fox News.

Trump made the comment in an interview with the network as a framework ceasefire deal between the U.S. and Iran was due to expire on Monday.

Asked by a Fox News reporter about parallel talks between Iran and Oman regarding a provisional deal over control of the Strait of Hormuz, Trump responded he would “bomb the s—” out of Oman if the country “gets in the way.”

Last week, Iran said it was in discussions with Oman about reopening the strait. Both countries have coasts that trace the critical waterway through which roughly a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas flowed prior to the outbreak of the war in late February.

Diplomatic efforts to establish a new peace arrangement to resolve the months-old conflict between the U.S. and Iran have shown little to no sign that they were close to yielding a significant breakthrough. The framework agreement was signed in June, but effectively collapsed after a series of attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz.

Writing in a social media post on Monday, Trump stressed that the “number one Goal” of the Iran war “is, and always will be, that Iran cannot have, in any way, shape, or form, a Nuclear Weapon.”

Despite Trump’s rhetoric, the war has seemingly entered into a recurring cycle of escalation and detente that has continued to disrupt shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. Over the weekend, just five commodity vessels passed through the strait on Saturday and none did on Sunday, compared to 31 in the prior weekend, according to shipping data from Kpler cited by Reuters.

Prior to the assault on Iran launched by the U.S. and Israel in late February, more than 130 ships a day traversed the strait.

Activity in the strait appeared to stall following strikes on three vessels operated by the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company last week. The United Arab Emirates reported the attacks.

Meanwhile, the U.S. has recently suggested that it could maintain its naval blockade of Iranian ports indefinitely, denting already waning hopes for an immediate diplomatic breakthrough with Tehran.

Speaking recently to supporters, Trump predicted that “[a]fter we finish defeating Iran […] pretty soon I’ll be declaring the Hormuz Strait a ​territory of the United States.” Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister rebuked the claim, saying the strait “will be opened and closed only under Iran’s command.”

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, were last trading modestly higher on Monday at $88.91 a barrel.