US President Donald Trump issued a stark military threat against Oman on Wednesday, warning that the Gulf nation would have to "behave just like everybody else, or we will have to blow them up" if it collaborated with Iran to exert control over the Strait of Hormuz. The remarks, made at a White House cabinet meeting, came after reports emerged that Tehran had been pressing Muscat to support a mechanism for jointly managing and collecting tolls from vessels transiting the strategic waterway.

The Strait of Hormuz, a narrow passage between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran that carries roughly one-fifth of the world's oil supply, has been effectively blockaded by Iran since late February, when the United States and Israel launched military strikes against Iran. Since then, Tehran has asserted sovereignty over the strait and sought Oman's backing to formalise a joint oversight arrangement. Parts of the waterway pass through both Iranian and Omani territorial waters. The Trump administration dismissed an Iranian state television report outlining a memorandum of understanding granting the two countries joint control as "a complete fabrication."

The threat blindsided observers because Oman — a small, politically neutral Gulf state of around 5.3 million people — is a long-standing US ally with bilateral ties stretching back more than two centuries. The two countries share security partnerships, a free trade agreement, and a science and technology accord. Oman has also served as a key diplomatic back-channel between Washington and Tehran, including during the current conflict. Although there was initial speculation that Trump may have misspoken, the US State Department subsequently shared a transcript of the quote on social media confirming he had referred to Oman specifically.

Critics swiftly condemned the remarks. Human rights advocates noted that the UN Charter prohibits threats of force against sovereign states and warned that the comment reflected the same "lawless logic" that had underpinned the February military campaign. Others drew comparisons to coercive, transactional diplomacy — with one advocacy director describing Trump's language as resembling that of a "mafia boss." Inside the US, Republican hawks who had backed the war on Iran also expressed unease, with the chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee calling a rumoured 60-day ceasefire framework a potential "disaster" that would squander military gains.

The incident underscores the turbulent state of US-Iran negotiations. Trump, who accused Tehran of trying to "outwait" him until next year's US midterm elections, also used Wednesday's meeting to renew pressure on Arab states — including Saudi Arabia and Qatar — to normalise relations with Israel as a condition of any broader ceasefire agreement. The fate of the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint whose prolonged closure has already triggered a global energy crisis, remains at the centre of diplomatic efforts that appear increasingly fragile.