If Oman Gets in the Way, We’ll Bomb the Shit Out of Them — Trump
US President Donald Trump has threatened to bomb Oman if the Gulf country obstructs his efforts to bring the war with Iran to an end, despite Muscat not being a party to the conflict.
Trump made the threat during a Fox News interview on Monday, as a 60-day negotiating period between Washington and Tehran expired without a comprehensive peace agreement.
“If Oman gets in the way, we’ll bomb the shit out of them,” Trump said.
The threat marks the second time Trump has directed such a warning at Oman, a longstanding US ally that has maintained close diplomatic ties with both Washington and Tehran.
Oman has traditionally served as a discreet channel between the United States and Iran, making its role particularly important during periods of tension between the two countries.
Trump had also threatened Oman in May, saying he would “blow up” the country if it failed to cooperate with his administration.
The latest warning came as Trump’s efforts to secure an end to the Iran war faced another setback.
The US president has repeatedly predicted that the conflict would end soon and has portrayed himself as a “peacemaker-in-chief”.
However, the negotiating window agreed with Iran closed on Monday without a final agreement on sanctions, Iran’s nuclear programme and other outstanding disputes.
Trump said he was not concerned about the missed deadline and indicated that he had no immediate timetable for reaching an agreement.
“I have no time schedule. I’m not in a hurry,” he said.
He also called on Iran to surrender, saying Tehran should “put up the white flag of surrender”.
The 60-day negotiating period followed a memorandum of understanding signed by Trump and Iran at the Palace of Versailles on June 17, on the sidelines of the G7 summit.
The agreement temporarily paused hostilities and allowed both sides to negotiate a broader settlement, with any extension requiring mutual consent.
Trump also dismissed concerns that months of military operations could be draining US weapons stocks.
He described the quantity of American weapons used against Iran as “peanuts” and suggested that some advanced US munitions and air defence systems had already been depleted under former President Joe Biden after weapons were transferred to Ukraine.
The diplomatic tension comes amid continuing military activity across the Middle East.
Yemen’s Houthi movement claimed on Monday that it had targeted Saudi military vessels in the Red Sea with missiles and drones.
The Houthis said the attack targeted a Saudi military ship and four escort vessels near a port close to the Bab al-Mandeb strait, a vital international shipping route linking the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
Saudi authorities had not confirmed the reported attack.
In Israel, Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, met Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for more than four hours as Washington attempted to revive negotiations over the Gaza conflict.
The meeting followed Netanyahu’s rejection of a US-backed peace proposal that included an Israeli troop withdrawal from Gaza.
Netanyahu has maintained that Israeli forces should not withdraw until Hamas has fully disarmed. US officials said Kushner urged the Israeli prime minister not to take steps that could frustrate efforts to reach an agreement.
The Strait of Hormuz remains another major point of tension in the wider conflict.
The strategic waterway lies between Iran and Oman and normally carries about one-fifth of the world’s seaborne oil supplies.
The strait has been largely closed since the United States and Israel launched their war against Iran in February, raising concerns about global energy supplies and maritime trade.
Oman and Iran have been discussing the management of the waterway, further complicating Muscat’s position.
Despite Trump’s latest threat, Iran’s foreign ministry said Monday that talks with Oman were continuing “in earnest”.
Trump also confirmed that Washington had opened a direct backchannel to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which has been targeted by US and Israeli forces during the conflict.
“They’re good poker players, but they’re dying,” Trump said of the IRGC leadership.
Oman now finds itself caught between two countries with which it has maintained important relationships, as Washington presses for an end to the war and Tehran continues to resist demands for surrender.
With the latest negotiating deadline expired and no comprehensive agreement reached, Trump’s latest threat has added another layer of uncertainty to an already volatile Middle East conflict.
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