Trump threatens to bomb Oman over Iran deal

Donald Trump threatened to bomb Oman if it “gets in the way” of its negotiations with Iran. 

The president said he would “bomb the s--- out of” the US ally after Iran said it was working to finalise an agreement with the Gulf country to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

“If Oman gets in the way, we’ll bomb the s--- out of them,” Mr Trump told Fox News in a threat to a country that hosts US forces.

It comes as the 60-day deadline for Washington and Tehran to negotiate a broader peace deal is set to expire on Monday, with no signs of a diplomatic breakthrough.

There has been no word of an extension from either side, and their positions over the strait and the Islamic Republic’s nuclear programme remain far apart.

On Monday, Iran said it had agreed on a plan with Oman to manage the transit of ships through the critical waterway that runs between both countries. 

Reopening the waterway has been a major sticking point in peace talks to end the conflict in the Middle East, with strikes and blockades halting traffic and hampering global oil markets.

Washington demands the strait be completely reopened, returning it to its pre-war status, but it is unclear whether the Oman deal will produce such a result. 

Iran effectively closed the strait – through which one-fifth of the world’s oil flows in peacetime – after the US and Israel attacked the country at the end of February. 

Tehran made it clear it would not reopen the waterway until the US lifted its blockade of Iranian ports, and that it intended to continue to wield some control over the strait.

Without providing details, Esmail Baghaei, the Iranian foreign ministry spokesman, said that “an understanding has been reached regarding the map of the transit route”.

Reports previously suggested the deal would reopen the strait, with ships entering through a route close to Iran and exiting through a route close to Oman. Ships would transit without paying fees or tolls during the interim period.

The US president, whose handling of the war has caused his approval ratings to plunge, said on Monday he was in no “hurry” to bring the conflict to a close. 

“They’re good poker players, but they’re dying,” Mr Trump said of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), confirming he had established a backchannel of communication with the powerful faction. “I have no time schedule. I’m not in a hurry.”

The Trump administration used an unconventional backchannel to contact the IRGC directly, Axios reported on Sunday.

Washington established a direct line to Nechirvan Barzani, the president of the Kurdistan region in Iraq, amid fears the negotiators they were speaking to did not represent the IRGC.

The president also reaffirmed his “number one goal” in the war with Iran was to ensure the country never obtained a nuclear weapon.

In a post on Truth Social on Monday, he wrote: “The number one Goal is, and always will be, that Iran cannot have, in any way, shape, or form, a Nuclear Weapon. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DONALD J. TRUMP.”

Mr Trump has threatened to bomb Oman before during the US’s war with Iran.

In May, he said the US would “blow up” the country if it failed to “behave”, again in relation to talks over the Strait of Hormuz.

“Oman will behave just like everybody else,” he said. “Or else we’ll have to blow them up. They understand that. They’ll be fine.”

Mr Trump has threatened other US allies, including when he discussed annexing Greenland from Denmark and shared AI-generated maps showing Canada under US control.

Meanwhile on Monday, Jared Kushner, Mr Trump’s envoy and son-in-law, is in Israel in an effort to revive the president’s Gaza peace deal. 

Alongside Sir Tony Blair, Mr Kushner will meet Benjamin Netanyahu after the Israeli prime minister rejected the 15-point plan publicly. The delegation met Hamas on Sunday to push them to fulfil their commitment to disarm. 

[Source: Daily Telegraph]