Trump Threatens to 'Blow Up' Oman

WASHINGTON – US President Donald Trump threatened to ‘blow up’ Oman. This came in response to Iran’s proposal for joint control of the Strait of Hormuz with Oman. The US president made the threat following reports of negotiations between Iran and Oman over a shared toll system for vessels passing through the vital waterway, which was closed after the US-Israel war against Iran began. ‘The strait will be open to all,’ Trump said on Tuesday US time, according to The Guardian. ‘No one will control it. We will monitor it. We will monitor it. But no one will control it. That is part of the negotiations we are conducting.’ It is worth noting that Iran and Oman, whose exclusive economic zones overlap at the Strait of Hormuz’s narrowest point, have long allowed shipping through the waters. It was the US-Israel attacks on Iran that recently triggered the closure of this vital global sea route. Tehran has sought to persuade Oman, a US ally, to support a toll collection mechanism for vessels transiting the strait, according to recent Associated Press reports citing a regional official. ‘They want to control it,’ Trump said, stressing the strait is part of international waters. ‘Oman will behave like everyone else. Or we will have to blow them up. They understand that. They will be fine.’ Trump’s recent efforts to reach a peace deal with Iran have so far failed to yield results. At Wednesday’s meeting, he accused Iran of trying to delay the agreement and ‘wait for me’ until the US midterm elections in November. When Trump hinted at nearing a deal over the weekend, rare rebukes came from staunch Republican supporters of his controversial decision to launch a war against Iran with Israel. Senator Roger Wicker, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, called the reported 60-day ceasefire a ‘disaster’ in a social media post. ‘Everything achieved through Operation Epic Fury will be wasted,’ he added.