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Trump threatens Oman
President Donald Trump threatened to bomb Oman if it “gets in the way” of a potential US deal with Iran over the Strait of Hormuz, telling Fox News, “If Oman gets in the way, we'll bomb the shit out of them.”
““If Oman gets in the way, we'll bomb the shit out of them,” Trump told Fox News”
The warning came as an Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Tehran and Muscat had reached an “understanding” regarding shipping routes in the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump’s remarks referenced an interim agreement in mid-June that called for toll-free passage of the Strait of Hormuz for 60 days, after which Iran and Oman will “define the future administration” of the strait.
The Strait of Hormuz is situated between Iran and Oman and carried roughly 20% of the world’s oil before the war, according to the Al-Monitor report.
Trump also said in May that Oman should “behave … or else we’ll have to blow them up,” and his treasury secretary Scott Bessent warned Oman it could face sanctions if it cooperates with Iran to charge fees in the strait.
Backchannels and surrender
Trump said Washington is in direct contact with officials from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), confirming, “We have a backchannel with the IRGC.”
In the same remarks, Trump called on Tehran to raise a “white flag of surrender,” adding, “They're good poker players, but they're dying.”
USA Today reported that Trump told Fox News in an Aug. 17 phone interview that “If Oman gets in the way, we'll bomb the s--- out of them,” and said he also told Fox News, “Iran should wave the white flag of surrender.”
The Jerusalem Post reported that Trump said he has “no time schedule” and is in “no hurry” to make a deal, while also quoting Trump’s line that “They're good poker players, but they're dying.”
El Confidencial likewise reported Trump said, “I have no deadline. I’m not in a rush,” and that he insisted “The number one objective is, and always will be, that Iran cannot have, in any way or form, a nuclear weapon.”
Iran’s response and stakes
As the 60-day window described in a memorandum of understanding was set to expire on Aug. 17, El País said Iranian authorities again insisted the agreement with Oman to manage maritime traffic in the strait is imminent and pointed to an understanding with Muscat regarding the routes.
““There is an understanding on the traffic routes map, but we are going to finalize the understanding in the form of a 'package.'”
El País quoted Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei saying, “There is an understanding on the traffic routes map, but we are going to finalize the understanding in the form of a 'package.'”
i24NEWS reported that Tehran rejected treating the 60 days as a final deadline, quoting Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Saeed Khatibzadeh (Ismail) saying the memorandum does not include a so-called “60-day deadline.”
i24NEWS also quoted Ya Allah Joani, political adviser to the IRGC commander, saying, “opening the Hormuz Strait is tied to the United States fulfilling its obligations under the memorandum.”
The same i24NEWS report framed the immediate stakes by saying Trump intensified his tone toward Tehran and threatened to resume war if it does not back down, while Iran insisted Hormuz Strait arrangements “will not return to what they were before the war.”
