The president of the United States, Donald Trump, reiterated this Monday that Iran has to "raise the white flag" and "surrender" to the situation it faces due to the war that started last February, while also issuing a serious warning to Oman with the possibility of bombing its territory if it intervenes in the management of the Strait of Hormuz, at a time when Muscat is holding talks with Tehran about transit through this strategic passage.
Iran must "raise the white flag of surrender," the American leader pointed out in a telephone interview granted to Fox News, where he also made it clear that he is not "in a hurry" nor considers any "deadline" to close an agreement with the Islamic Republic, in a context where diplomatic talks are frozen and the war in Iran is at a clear 'impasse'.
In this sense, he downplayed the midterm legislative elections scheduled for November, emphasizing that they "have nothing to do" with the United States' strategy in the war in Iran, after noting that the Iranian representatives at the negotiating table are "good poker players" but "are dying".
Regarding the future of the Strait of Hormuz and the role of countries like Oman, which is currently dialoguing with Iran about passage through this maritime route, Trump has made an explicit military threat against the country, which until now acted as a mediator, not to obstruct Washington's plans in the area.
"If Oman gets in our way, we are going to bomb them to dust," warned the occupant of the White House, emphasizing that, for now, the U.S. Armed Forces have not deployed their full potential in the region and have only used a "insignificant" amount of weaponry.
These words come just as the 60-day period granted to the United States and Iran to close a global agreement that would end the war in the Middle East expires, which was also supposed to include provisions to supervise and contain the Iranian nuclear program.
Nonetheless, the truce and the memorandum of understanding that supported it came to nothing a few weeks after its signing, in mid-June, when Washington resumed military attacks against Iran claiming that Tehran was not fulfilling the agreed commitments.