WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump has threatened to use military force against Oman if it collaborates with Iran to assert control over the Strait of Hormuz. “Oman will behave just like everybody else, or we’ll have to blow them up,” Trump said during a cabinet meeting, responding to a reporter’s question about the strait. Quickly after making the threat, Trump said he didn’t believe the United States would have to take such an action. “They understand that. They’ll be fine,” he said. Iran has discussed partnering with Oman in a system charging fees for vessels passing through the Strait of Hormuz, ignoring the Trump administration’s warnings against demands for payment to pass through the critical international waterway. Trump said there would be serious repercussions if the two countries agree to such a deal. “The strait is going to be open to everybody,” he said. “Nobody’s going to control it. We’re going to watch over it. We’ll watch over it, but nobody’s going to control it.” Despite talks about a potential deal to quickly reopen the strait, the likelihood of a swift diplomatic breakthrough seemed dim Wednesday after the United States and Iran ratcheted up hostilities this week. Iran described Trump’s threats against Oman as “dangerous” and “bullying”. “Threats to destroy a United Nations member state that has always played a constructive, effective, and responsible role in regional peace and security and has used its noble efforts in the service of regional peace and stability as a mediator in diplomatic processes for many years are not only a violation of the fundamental principle of prohibiting the threat of the use of force, but also another dangerous sign of the normalisation of lawlessness and bullying in international relations,” Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei was quoted as saying. Oman is at least the 15th country that Trump has either threatened to attack, left open the possibility of attacking, or actually attacked during his two terms as president, according to CNN Nearly all of those instances occurred in the first 16 months of his second term. He’s launched strikes in seven countries so far in his second term — Iran, Iraq, Nigeria, Somalia, Syria, Venezuela and Yemen — after also attacking some of those countries in his first term. That doesn’t even count the strikes on alleged drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean, which have targeted nearly 60 vessels and killed more than 190 people. He has also threatened or left open the possibility of strikes against countries including Canada, Colombia, Cuba, the danish territory of Greenland, Mexico, Panama and now Oman. He also threatened Mexico and North Korea in his first term.
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