Trump threatens to ‘blow up’ US ally Oman amid talks over strait of Hormuz | US foreign policy
Donald Trump threatened to “blow up” Oman if it did not “act” comfortably during a cabinet meeting as the US sought to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
The US president made the threat following talks between Iran and Oman over a joint fee for ships passing through the important waterway, which has been almost completely closed since the beginning of the US-Israeli war against Iran.
“The Strait will be open to everyone,” Trump said on Tuesday. “No one will control it. We will monitor it. We will monitor it. But no one will control it. This is part of the negotiation we are having.”
In addition to Oman’s decades-long military and economic ties with the United States, the Gulf nation of 5.3 million people played a mediating role in the war and has itself come under attack from Tehran.
The strait, which typically carries a fifth of the world’s oil supplies, has been blockaded by Iran since late February, triggering a global energy crisis.
According to a recent report by the Associated Press, citing a regional official, Tehran wants to persuade Oman to support a mechanism that will collect tolls from ships passing through the strait.
Emphasizing that the Strait is part of international waters, Trump said, “They want to control it.”
He added, with extraordinary threat: “Oman will act like everyone else. Otherwise we will have to blow them up. They understand that. They will be fine.”
The White House did not immediately say whether Trump misspoke, and Oman’s embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Trump’s efforts to reach a peace agreement with Iran in recent weeks have not yielded results so far. At Wednesday’s meeting, he accused Iran of trying to delay the deal and “waiting for me” until the US midterm elections in November.
When Trump signaled over the weekend that he was on the brink of a deal, Republican hawks who strongly supported his controversial decision to order war on Iran along with Israel issued a rare rebuke.
Roger Wicker, who chairs the Senate armed services committee, said in a post on social media that “rumors of a 60-day ceasefire” would be a “disaster.” “Everything achieved by Operation Epic Rage will be in vain,” he added.
