US President Donald Trump./SCREENGRABPresident Donald Trump has threatened to bomb Oman – a US ally – if it "gets in the way" of his administration's own talks with Iran, Fox News reports.
The US and Oman have separately been negotiating with Tehran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway that is vital to the global economy. It has been largely closed for nearly six months during the US-Iran war.
A reporter for Fox said the US president made the threat to Oman while using an expletive during a phone interview.
Earlier in the day, Iranian officials said they were close to finalising a deal with Oman. Meanwhile, the future of talks between the US and Iran is unclear, as a 60-day Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the two sides is expiring.
Since the US and Israel attacked Iran in February, Tehran has largely blocked the Strait of Hormuz – through which about a fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas usually passes. Reopening it has been a key point of discussion.
Oman borders the southern side of the Strait and says it is a neutral country in this conflict. However, it has suffered a number of strikes from Iran and is now playing a key role in negotiating with Tehran to reopen the waterway.
Washington has pursued its own efforts to secure the reopening. Fox reporter Trey Yingst quoted Trump as saying, "If Oman gets in the way, we'll bomb the shit out of them."
During the same interview with Fox, Trump also said the US had a direct backchannel with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which is a major military, economic and political force in Iran.
An IRGC spokesman denied Trump's claim.
A spokesman told semi-official Iranian news agency Tasnim News: "There are no talks taking place between IRGC officials and the Americans, and this lie by Trump is merely a fantasy caused by the delusions and nightmares he has suffered as a result of defeat and desperation in the war."
Trump made his threat to Oman after Iran said earlier on Monday that the two sides had reached an agreement for ships to travel through the strait.
Foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei told reporters in Tehran, "an understanding has been reached regarding the map of the transit route."
In his statement, Baghaei said both sides would finalise the details before issuing a joint statement. Oman has previously described these talks as positive.
Earlier this month, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said a full reopening depended on Iran receiving compensation from the US for what Tehran described as violations of the MoU.
Reuters – citing an Iranian official – previously reported that Tehran was seeking fees of between 5% and 7% of the price of cargoes from vessels that travel through it.
While Trump said in his call with Fox that he had a direct backchannel with the IRGC, he said he was in no hurry to bring a war to a close.
"They're good poker players, but they're dying," he was quoted as saying. "I have no time schedule. I'm not in a hurry."
The president also stressed the upcoming November midterm elections in the US had "nothing to do with my thinking". He also argued the US had no issues with its stockpiled weapons being depleted since the war broke out, arguing "what we've used is peanuts".
Exact ammunition expenditures and remaining stockpiles remain classified. But publicly available data compiled by the Washington DC-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) has recently painted a stark picture of depleted stockpiles that, in the short term, are difficult to replace.
Retired Corps colonel and senior adviser at CSIS previously told the BBC it typically takes "one to five years" to make a single missile.
