Donald Trump Says No Talks With Iran, Threatens To Bomb Oman Over Strait Of Hormuz Deal

President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that the United States has no talks planned with Iran and insisted that the Strait of Hormuz remains "open and operating," while he also maintained that the naval blockade of Iranian ports is "in full force and effect".

“The Naval Blockade remains in full force and effect. The Hormuz Strait is open and operating”

Al Jazeera

Trump’s threat escalated into a direct warning to Oman, with AP reporting that U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to bomb Oman because he is unhappy the country is close to a deal with Iran to manage ship traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.

Al Jazeera

The AP account tied the U.S. position to opposition to parts of a yet-to-be-announced deal, including joint Iranian and Omani management of the exit route out of the passage that’s critical to global supplies of oil and natural gas.

Iran’s deputy foreign minister for legal and international affairs, Kazem Gharibabadi, responded to Trump’s social media post by writing, "Just as Trump correctly wrote the name of the eternal Persian Gulf, soon his delusion regarding the Strait of Hormuz will either be corrected or we will correct the delusions of this deluded man."

The Al-Monitor report said the Sultan of Oman, Haitham bin Tariq, met on Monday in Abu Dhabi with the President of the United Arab Emirates, Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, to discuss bilateral relations and regional developments as Muscat negotiates with Iran over the Strait of Hormuz.

Al-Monitor added that the meeting included UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Dubai’s first vice president, deputy prime minister and finance minister Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, while Sultan Haitham arrived accompanied by Deputy Prime Minister for Defense Affairs Sayyid Shihab bin Tariq Al Said and Minister of State and Governor of Muscat, Sayyid Bilarab bin Haitham Al Said.

Al-Jazirah Net

Al-Monitor described U.S. pressure on Muscat’s mediation role and said the proposed agreement follows a memorandum of understanding signed in June between the United States and Iran, aiming to establish a framework for reopening the strait.

In response to Trump’s threats, the DW report quoted Trump telling Fox News journalist Trey Yingst, "If Oman stands in our way, we will bomb them until we destroy them."

As the U.S.-Iran negotiation period ended without a clear end to the war in sight, Al Jazeera reported that Trump’s rhetoric and Iran-Oman talks had ground progress toward peace talks and the return of maritime traffic through Hormuz to a halt, threatening to extend the conflict.A

“a missile threat alert was issued by the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday evening”

Al Jazeera

The Associated Press account said a projectile hit a ship as it sailed out of the strait and that a cargo vessel was rendered a "constructive total loss" by multiple projectiles off the coast of Yemen, while the defense ministry of the United Arab Emirates said two ballistic missiles were launched from Iran toward the UAE.

Al Jazeera also reported that a missile threat alert was issued by the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday evening after its Defence Ministry said its air defences "detected two ballistic missiles launched from Iran," and that both projectiles were reported to have landed in the sea.A

With diplomacy stalled, Iran reiterated that the strait would not reopen until Washington meets its conditions, and AP quoted Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf saying, "Until the United States fulfills its commitments under the agreement, including lifting the blockade, releasing frozen assets, lifting oil sanctions, ending threats and military operations on all fronts, and implementing the other conditions to which it committed, the Strait of Hormuz will not reopen."