President Donald Trump has threatened to bomb Oman if it “gets in the way” of the United States’ own talks with Iran, Fox News reports.
A journalist from the network said the US president made the comment during a phone call on Monday, during which he also said the US had a direct channel with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
The IRGC subsequently denied having been involved in talks with the United States. But Iranian officials said Monday they were close to finalizing a deal with Iran on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
Meanwhile, the 60-day Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) ends on Monday. The memorandum was a commitment signed by both the United States and Iran to hold further talks to reach a final agreement.
Oman, which claims to be a neutral country in this conflict, has suffered several attacks from Iran since the conflict broke out. However, it is now playing a role in negotiations with Iran to reopen the strait.
Since the United States and Israel attacked Iran in February, Tehran has largely blocked the vital waterway, through which about a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas typically pass. Reopening it has been a key point of discussion.
Washington has continued its own efforts to secure the reopening. Fox journalist Trey Yingst quoted Trump as saying, “If Oman gets in the way, we’ll bomb the shit out of them.”
An IRGC spokesman denied Trump’s claim, made in the same interview, that the United States was involved in secondary negotiations with the IRGC, which is a major military, political and economic force in Iran.
A spokesperson told Iran’s semi-official Tasnim News agency: “There are no talks between IRGC officials and the Americans, and this lie by Trump is mere fantasies caused by the delusions and nightmares he has suffered as a result of defeat and despair in the war.”
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