US-Iran war: Donald Trump threatens to blow up Oman if it doesn’t ‘behave’ with Strait of Hormuz

US President Donald Trump has put another country on notice, telling them they’re going to have to ‘behave’ if they want to survive.

Speaking from the White House on Wednesday, Mr Trump doubled down on his assertions that the Strait of Hormuz would be open soon and without anyone controlling it, not even an US ally.

“The Strait has gotta be open to everybody. It’s international waters,” Mr Trump said.

“Nobody’s going to control it. We’re going to watch over it... But nobody is going to control it.

“That’s part of the negotiation that we have.

“They (Iran) would like to control it. Nobody is going to control it. It’s international waters.”

At that point, Mr Trump dropped a huge threat to a country seen as a US ally. Oman.

“Oman will behave, just like everybody else, or we will have to blow them up.

:They understand that. They’ll be fine.”

Why is Trump threatening Oman?

Oman’s proximity to Iran gives the country an interesting role specific to the Strait of Hormuz.

To get to the Strait of Hormuz from the Arabian Sea, ships must first travel through the Gulf of Oman.

From there, ships travel through the Strait of Hormuz to get to the Persian Gulf. That is where vessels are connected with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq and additional stretches of Iran.

Iran has floated the idea of the controlling the Strait of Hormuz with Oman, something that could see them charge massive sums for ships to sail through the key waterway. However, so far Oman has remained neutral, and not publicly endorsed the proposal.

Raed Jarrar, the advocacy director at the US-based rights group DAWN, labelled Mr Trump’s threat as reckless, saying the US President was acting like a “mafia boss”.

“The UN Charter prohibits the threat of force against any state, and that prohibition binds the United States exactly as it binds everyone else,” Mr Jarrar told Al Jazeera.

“Threatening to ‘blow up’ an Arab country because its waters happen to sit along an oil route Washington wants reopened is the same lawless logic that produced this war in February, and it is the clearest possible signal that any ceasefire this administration brokers will hold only until the next time the president loses his temper at a cabinet meeting.”

The threat to “blow up” long-time US ally Oman comes as Iranian State news networks reported a framework of a supposed deal, something the US appeared very unhappy about.

Iran would restore shipping through the Strait of Hormuz to pre-war levels within a month in a framework deal with the United States that also includes plans for withdrawing US forces from Iran’s vicinity, Iranian state television reported.

The report said the US would end a naval blockade of Iranian shipping, citing a memorandum of understanding being negotiated between the two sides to end the war, which has choked global energy supplies through the strategic waterway.

Iranian state TV said it had obtained an unofficial draft of the MOU, though it was not final and may not be agreed.

State TV said the framework, which excludes military vessels and envisages Iran managing ship traffic through the strait in co-operation with Oman, was not yet finalised and that Iran would take no steps without “tangible verification”.

The US denied the report, saying it was “complete fabrication” in a White House statement on social media.

Iran’s government did not comment.

The issue of US troops in the region also needs further discussion, the TV report said without being more specific.

There was no mention of Iran’s nuclear program, which the US wants disbanded.