Amid escalating tensions between Washington and Tehran, US President Donald Trump on Monday issued a strong warning to Oman over its talks with Iran concerning the Strait of Hormuz, saying the United States would respond with military force if Muscat interfered with its position on the strategic waterway.
"If Oman gets in the way, we'll bomb the shit out of them," Trump told Fox News journalist Trey Yingst during a phone call.
Trump's warning comes as discussions continue over the future of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital global shipping route through which a significant share of the world's oil supplies passes. Oman has been involved in diplomatic efforts with Iran to establish arrangements aimed at ensuring the safe movement of commercial vessels through the waterway, while the United States is pursuing its own negotiations with Tehran.
The warning comes at a time as a 60-day memorandum of understanding signed in June, which was intended to create a framework for negotiations aimed at ending the conflict in West Asia nears.
Speaking to Fox News, Trump said that "Iran should raise the white flag of surrender" but maintained that he has "no time schedule".
"I have no time schedule. I'm not in a hurry...the midterms have nothing to do with my thinking," Trump said.
The ongoing middle east tensions which began on February 28 has already had significant economic consequences, with oil and gas prices rising amid fears of further disruption to energy supplies. The developments also comes ahead of the US midterm elections in November, when Trump's Republican Party will face voters.
With the conflict approaching its sixth month, diplomatic efforts between Washington and Tehran remain stalled.
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What Iran said on Oman deal?
Iran has said that negotiations with Oman over a mechanism to secure commercial navigation through the Strait of Hormuz are still underway. Tehran has blamed the slow progress on the complexity of the issue, the involvement of several parties and what it described as attempts by certain actors to disrupt the negotiations.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei, responding to questions about the delay, said, "Keep in mind that insecurity in the Strait of Hormuz was imposed on us, on the region and on the entire world, and the reason for it was the illegal military action of the United States."
According to Baghaei, the objective of the negotiations is to establish a framework that protects "both the sovereignty of the two coastal states and the safe passage of commercial ships in this waterway."
He pointed to three main factors behind the prolonged talks.
"One factor is the complexity of the issue," Baghaei said. He identified the second as "the multiplicity of actors who are trying to be influential in this process."
He said the third factor was "the destructive efforts of some malicious parties who have shown that they never care about the peace and security of the region and want the region to always be in chaos."
"These three factors have caused this process to take some time, but if you consider all these things, the talks between Iran and Oman are continuing seriously," Baghaei said.
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The Middle East conflict started following the killing of 86-year-old Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in joint military strikes by the US and Israel, after which Iran, in its retaliation, targeted Israeli and US assets in several Gulf countries and Israel, causing disruption in the waterway and affecting international energy markets and global economic stability since February 28.