President Donald Trump threatened military action against Oman on Aug. 17 if the country got in the way of U.S.-Iran talks over the Strait of Hormuz, saying in a Fox News phone interview, according to Trey Yingst, that, "If Oman gets in the way, we'll bomb the s--- out of them." That’s the language of empire stripped bare. A president on the phone, a reporter on the line, and a small state told it can be bombed for interfering with negotiations over a waterway both governments claim as their own.
The threat landed as Oman, a U.S. ally, has been in talks with Iran about reopening the Strait of Hormuz, which borders the two countries and which both Iran and the United States have asserted control over. Ordinary people don’t get a vote in any of this. The decisions are made above them, by states, militaries, and the machinery that treats a narrow shipping route like a prize to be seized.
Who Has the Power
Trump also said, "Iran should wave the white flag of surrender," and added, "I have no time schedule" and "I'm not in a hurry." The phrasing is blunt, almost casual, as if war and surrender were just bargaining chips in a deal between armed authorities. He said last week he was ready to soon declare the Strait of Hormuz a "territory of the United States." That claim, like the rest, shows how quickly rulers turn geography into property when oil and force are on the table.
Iranian leaders have said they won't agree to a deal unless the United States meets certain conditions, including compensation for Tehran. Trump has rejected that idea and defended the success of a U.S. naval blockade on Iranian ports that has sought to prevent Iranian ships from using the strait to transport oil. The blockade hits where it always hits first: trade, livelihoods, and the people who depend on both. The bosses of war call it pressure. Everyone else pays.
Who Gets Crushed
The two sides dispute who controls the Strait of Hormuz, which about 20% of the world's crude oil and liquefied gas pass through as a critical access point for Middle East oil exports. That makes the strait a choke point not just for governments, but for the global economy they command. When states fight over it, the consequences ripple outward to workers, consumers, and anyone trapped inside the system’s supply lines.
Since the memorandum of understanding unraveled, Iran has resumed attacks on ships in the strait that Iranian leaders say lack permission to access the channel. Trump has claimed the United States has opened the strait to all commercial ships other than those from Iran, crippling Iran's economy because it relies on oil exports. Iran has rejected Trump's characterization, saying the waterway is under the "complete management and control" of Iran and that no commercial ships can go through without its permission. Each side speaks the language of control. Each side treats the waterway like an asset to police.
What They're Calling Peace
The latest comments came as a 60-day window for the United States to negotiate with Iran, outlined in a memorandum of understanding in June, expired on Aug. 17. The memorandum was intended to give the two sides two more months to hammer out a peace deal, but the parameters of the preliminary agreement quickly fell apart, leaving no end in sight to a war that started in late February. Peace, in this setup, meant a deadline, a memorandum, and the threat of more force if the terms weren’t met.
A separate report said Trump threatened to bomb Oman if it "gets in the way" of negotiations between Iran and Oman regarding control of the Strait of Hormuz, and that the threat came on the day the memorandum of understanding intended to achieve a durable peace with Iran officially expired. The timing says plenty. The apparatus of statecraft keeps calling this diplomacy while the gun stays on the table, and the people below are left to live with the consequences of every ultimatum, blockade, and claim of ownership.