Trump Threatens to Bomb Oman as Iran Talks Collapse and Oil Climbs

Today’s Focus

President Donald Trump said Monday he would bomb Oman if the country “gets in the way” of his push to end the US-Israel war on Iran, according to Fox News reporter Trey Yingst, who posted the remark from a phone interview.

“If Oman gets in the way, we’ll bomb the shit out of them,” Trump told Fox, per accounts from BBC News and The Guardian. He also called on Tehran to “put up the white flag of surrender.”

The threat targets a longtime US strategic partner that describes itself as neutral in the conflict. BBC News reported it was the second time Trump has directed such a warning at Oman.

The comments landed as a 60-day Memorandum of Understanding between Washington and Tehran expired. Asked in the Oval Office by BBC News whether he wanted to extend it, Trump replied, “No.”

Oman sits along the southern edge of the Strait of Hormuz, the waterway that normally carries about a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas. BBC News reported the strait has been largely closed since the US and Israel struck Iran in February.

Iranian officials said Monday they were near a separate deal with Oman to reopen shipping, while the US pursued its own track. Iran also warned it would take a “fully offensive” stance if talks failed, The Guardian reported.

A cargo ship was attacked in the strait early Tuesday, according to the UK Maritime Trade Operations agency. Ship-tracking firm Kpler counted just six commodity vessels transiting the waterway on Monday.

The Debate

Supporters argue

Backers of Trump’s pressure campaign frame the threat as leverage aimed at forcing a swift reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. In this view, the closed waterway is choking global energy supply, and only credible force will move Tehran.

Trump himself cast the standoff as a contest of wills, telling Fox News that Iran should “put up the white flag of surrender.” Allies argue that competing negotiating tracks, one between Oman and Iran and one led by Washington, risk producing a weaker outcome unless the US sets the terms.

Supporters contend that blunt language has previously pushed adversaries toward the table, and that ambiguity about “getting in the way” keeps intermediaries from cutting deals that sideline American interests. They point to the expired Memorandum of Understanding as evidence that open-ended diplomacy was not producing results.

For this camp, reopening Hormuz quickly is a matter of protecting the world economy from a prolonged supply shock, and pressure on all parties, even partners, serves that goal.

Critics argue

Opponents say threatening to bomb a neutral partner undercuts US credibility and endangers the very negotiations Trump claims to want. Oman insists it is neutral and has itself absorbed Iranian strikes, which critics say makes it a mediator, not an obstacle.

They argue the threat could push Muscat away from Washington and complicate the parallel Oman-Iran track that appeared close to a shipping deal. The Washington Post reported that 60 days after signing the Iran accord, Trump remains “stuck in quagmire” as the war grinds on, a framing critics use to question whether escalation is working.

Skeptics also note the human and economic costs of a widening conflict. Iran’s warning of a “fully offensive” posture, and its military spokesperson’s threat that ships will “find several beautiful holes in their hulls,” suggest deterrence is faltering rather than gaining ground.

For critics, a threat against a friendly state signals impulsiveness abroad and raises the odds of a broader Gulf war with no clear exit.

What the experts say

Market analysts tie the immediate fallout to energy prices. Tim Waterer, chief market analyst at KCM, said oil “jumped to start the week as US-Iran relations look increasingly shaky,” noting that a Hormuz reopening “still does not appear to be in sight” with shipping “at a trickle,” per The Guardian.

The strait’s importance is well documented. The US Energy Information Administration has estimated that roughly 20% of global petroleum liquids consumption passes through Hormuz, making it the world’s most critical oil chokepoint.

Ship-tracking data underscores the disruption. Kpler recorded only six commodity vessels moving through the waterway on Monday, a small uptick from the weekend but far below normal traffic.

Historically, threats to close or contest Hormuz have produced price spikes rather than sustained closures, because Iran also depends on the route for its own exports. Analysts cited by The Guardian noted Brent crude cleared $90 for the first time since late July, a level that ripples into fuel costs worldwide if the standoff persists.

By the Numbers

$91.63: the price per barrel of Brent crude on Tuesday morning, above $90 for the first time since July 30, according to The Guardian.

20%: the approximate share of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas that normally moves through the Strait of Hormuz, per BBC News.

60 days: the length of the US-Iran Memorandum of Understanding that expired Monday, according to BBC News.

6: the number of commodity ships that transited the strait on Monday, per ship-tracking firm Kpler cited by The Guardian.

6 months: roughly how long the strait has been largely closed since the US and Israel struck Iran in February, per BBC News.

2: the number of times Trump has now threatened to bomb Oman, according to The Guardian.

1: cargo ship reported attacked in the strait early Tuesday, per the UK Maritime Trade Operations agency.