Trump Says He’ll “Bomb the S—” Out of Oman If Country Makes Deal With Iran

On Monday, President Donald Trump indicated that he may expand the U.S.’s unauthorized and illegal war on Iran to include attacks on Oman, if that country continues negotiations with Tehran over control of the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump made the remarks in a call to Fox News reporter Trey Yingst, who relayed it on the air during a “Fox & Friends” segment. Yingst had asked Trump about reports that Oman and Iran were discussing how to manage the strait, through which a large portion of the world’s oil is shipped.

Both the U.S. and Iran have set up blockades in the Strait of Hormuz during the war, driving up the costs of oil and gas since the start of the conflict.

Responding to those reports, Trump told Yingst, “If Oman gets in the way, we’ll bomb the shit out of them.”

Trump also demanded that Iran “raise the white flag of surrender,” and indicated that he was in no rush to end the war.

“I have no time schedule, I’m in no hurry,” Trump reportedly said.

Trump’s threats to Oman — which is categorized as a strategic partner of Washington’s — come as the U.S.-Iran Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), signed in June, officially ended this week. That agreement was initially reached as a means to negotiate a larger plan to end the war, which never materialized.

Notably, both sides had already acknowledged several weeks ago that the MOU was no longer in effect, due to accusations between the countries that the agreement had been violated, and hostilities resuming shortly after it was signed.

Still, with the MOU coming to an official close as of Monday, it could result in an increase in hostilities by both the U.S. and Iran in the days and weeks ahead.

Trump’s comments to Fox News are not the first time he has threatened Oman for daring to negotiate with Iran. In late May, as talks between Oman and Iran were being reported on, Trump said during a cabinet meeting that he would “blow up” Oman if those discussions continued.

“Nobody’s going to control it,” Trump said at the time, referring to the Strait of Hormuz. “We’re going to watch over it. We’ll watch over it. But nobody’s going to control it.”

While Iran has attacked U.S. military interests in several countries across the Middle East, hoping that doing so would curtail Washington’s attacks, the U.S. has focused its attacks on Iran. An attack on Oman would signal that the U.S. is expanding the war to include countries that Iran has negotiated with, or even potentially its allies that predated the start of the conflict.