Deadline for Iran peace deal expires as Trump threatens to bomb Oman if it interferes

WASHINGTON (TNND) — Iran says it is working with Oman to finalize a joint statement on a plan to allow shipping through the Strait of Hormuz as the 60-day negotiating period to secure a peace deal between the U.S. and Iran expires Monday.

President Donald Trump has threatened Oman, telling Fox News’ Trey Tingst the U.S. would bomb the country if it “gets in the way.”

If Oman gets in the way, we’ll bomb the s*** out of them,” Yingst said Trump told him.

In May, Trump told reporters Oman needed to behave, “or we will have to blow them up.”

Trump also told the outlet that Iran needs to “put up the white flag” and surrender.

The president says that while Iran claims it is not directly speaking with the U.S., backchannel conversations are happening between the U.S. and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps officials.

He said the expiration of the 60-day deadline to end talks was irrelevant and there is no timeline to end the conflict.

“I’m not in a hurry…the midterms have nothing to do with my thinking,” Trump told Yingst.

Iran’s agreement

As for an Iran-Oman deal on the Strait of Hormuz, Iran said it has reached an agreement and is working to finalize details for an official statement.

Iranian Foreign Affairs spokesperson Esmail Baghaei told reporters in Tehran that “an understanding has been reached regarding the map of the transit route.”

Baghaei did not elaborate on details, but previously released information suggests the deal will reopen the Strait with ships entering near Iran and exiting near Oman. Ships going through would not pay fees or tolls during an “interim period.”

“We had planned, and still plan, to finalize the understanding in the form of a package: the map plus a joint statement,” Baghaei said.

The U.S., however, has been waiting on an acceptable deal to reopen the Strait before it ends its blockade on ships going to Iranian ports.

Iran closed the Strait after the U.S. and Israel struck the Middle Eastern nation in February.

How did the Memorandum of Understanding unravel?

Both the opening of the Strait and the end to the U.S. blockade were supposed to take place under the interim deal reached by the U.S. and Iran in June. Talks continue to focus on those points of contention, though there has been no sign of compromise or an update on the denuclearization of Iran.

June’s Memorandum of Understanding had called for a halt to military operations, the implementation of the 60-day deadline for an agreement to end the war, and ending the dispute over Iran’s nuclear activities.

It also called for the Strait to remain open but gave Iran a loosely defined role in facilitating traffic, which left open the possibility it could charge fees after the deadline.

A week after the MOU was signed, Iran fired on ships using a route along Oman’s coast. which is overseen by the U.S. military looking to bypass Iran’s control.

The U.S. responded by striking Iran, which led to Iran firing on Arab countries hosting U.S. troops in Jordan, Kuwait and Bahrain.

Since then, the U.S. canceled waivers issued as part of the MOU, which allowed Iran to sell oil internationally and Trump brought back the blockade.

Both the U.S. and Iran have accused each other of violating the MOU.

What’s happening now?

Strikes between the U.S. and Iran have largely died down as a related truce between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah has mostly held.

Iran’s officials said they stopped talking with the U.S. in June, but acknowledged that messages have been shared by intermediaries. President Trump has said talks continue, claiming progress and last month, even cancelling his threat of massive strikes on Iran.

Last week, Pakistan expressed hope the 60-day negotiations deadline would be extended.

We are not closing the chapter,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Tahir Andrabi said. “Pakistan is making all-out efforts to bring the two parties to the negotiating table.”

Iran issued a list of demands to reopen the Strait at the start of August, including an end to the blockade, withdrawal of U.S. forces around Iran and reparations for damage inflicted in the war, to be paid by the U.S.

Meanwhile, Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen have begun attacking Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea, threatening another trade route being used to relieve pressure from the Strait of Hormuz’s closure.

Trump has rejected Iran’s demands, saying Tehran should be paying war reparations and maintaining that the U.S. controls the Strait.

After we finish defeating Iran — which is being very badly defeated — pretty soon I’ll be declaring the Hormuz Strait a territory of the United States,” Trump said on Friday.

“We have the blockade. No ships get through unless we want them to,” he added.

____________

The Associated Press contributed to this report.