Donald Trump threatens to bomb Oman if it âgets in the wayâ of ending Iran war
President issues threat to âbomb the sh** out of themâ after previously threatening Gulf ally in May
Donald Trump has again threatened to bomb Oman if it âgets in the wayâ of his effort to end the US-Israel war on Iran.
âIf Oman gets in the way, weâll bomb the [censored] out of them,â Trump told Fox News on Monday, the second time he has directed such a threat at Muscat, a longtime US strategic partner that has traditionally served as a key backchannel between Washington and Tehran.
The US president delivered the threat as he struggles to draw the conflict to a conclusion, almost six months after it was launched, and as a diplomatic window agreed with Tehran ran out with no final agreement in sight. But Trump also claimed during Mondayâs interview that he is ânot in a hurryâ to reach a deal.
That two-month window for a negotiated settlement closed on Monday without a breakthrough. Trump has repeatedly claimed the war would end âsoonâ, and talked up the prospect of a lasting peace deal in recent months, without such a breakthrough materializing.
In the same interview, Trump said Iran should âput up the white flag of surrenderâ, but signaled he was not about to impose a fresh deadline on Tehran. âI have no time schedule. Iâm not in a hurry,â he said.
Trump signed a memorandum of understanding with Iran at the Palace of Versailles on 17 June, on the sidelines of the G7 summit, which had paused hostilities and set a maximum 60-day window â extendable only by mutual consent â for the two sides to reach a comprehensive deal covering sanctions relief, Iranâs nuclear program and other disputes.
Trump also dismissed concerns that Washingtonâs own arsenal was being depleted by nearly six months of fighting, telling Fox News that what the US had expended against Iran so far is âpeanutsâ.
He suggested many of the USâs more advanced munitions, including air defense systems, had already been âgiven awayâ to Ukraine under his predecessor, Joe Biden â a claim that echoes warnings from defense analysts earlier in the war that US and allied stockpiles were being drawn down faster than they could be replenished.
The remarks came after Trump used his Truth Social platform to restate his negotiating red line. âThe number one Goal is, and always will be, that Iran cannot have, in any way, shape, or form, a Nuclear Weapon,â he wrote.
The strait of Hormuz â a crucial chokepoint for global trade, through which about a fifth of the worldâs seaborne oil supplies typically pass â has been all but closed since the US and Israel launched their war on Iran in February.
Iran is to the north of the strait. Oman is to the south. The two countries have been in talks over control of the strait.
In a casual aside at a cabinet meeting in May, the president also threatened to âblow upâ Oman if it failed to âbehaveâ.
It comes after Trump also threatened to declare the strait of Hormuz as âa territory of the United Statesâ during a speech on Friday.
In addition to Omanâs decades-long military and economic ties with the US, the Gulf nation of 5.3 million people has played a mediation role in the war and has itself come under attack from Tehran.
Iranâs foreign ministry said on Monday that talks with Oman were âcontinuing in earnestâ, despite Trumpâs latest outburst.
Trump also confirmed for the first time that Washington had opened a direct backchannel to Iranâs Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which the US and Israel have targeted throughout the conflict.
âTheyâre good poker players, but theyâre dying,â he said of the IRGC leadership.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/aug/17/donald-trump-threatens-bomb-omanThose who helped put that idiot in charge should be ashamed of themselves.