Washington, DC: In a sharp warning to Oman regarding its attempt to regulate movement through the Strait of Hormuz along with Iran, US president Donald Trump said that no country would be allowed to control the strategic waterway.
He was speaking during a Cabinet meeting at Camp David and said the Strait of Hormuz must remain open to all nations, describing it as “international waters” that cannot be controlled by any one country, Hindustan Times reported.
“We’ll watch over it, but nobody’s going to control it. That’s part of the negotiation that we have,” Trump said.
“They would like to control it. Nobody’s going to control it. It’s international waters, and Oman will behave just like everybody else, or we’ll have to blow them up,” he went on to say.
The Republican leader made this remark when asked whether he would accept a proposed arrangement under which Iran and Oman would share control of the strategically important Strait of Hormuz, a key global oil shipping route.
“They understand that. They’ll be fine,” Trump said moments later, softening his stance.
Washington is still not fully satisfied with the current framework being discussed with Tehran, the US president said.
“Iran is very much intent, they want very much to make a deal. So far they haven’t gotten there … we’re not satisfied with it, but we will be. We will be either that or we’ll have to just finish the job,” he said.
Trump doubled down on his position later in the meeting and stressed that any final agreement with Iran must meet all US expectations.
“The deal has got to be perfect,” he said.
The future management of the Strait of Hormuz continues to remain one of the biggest hurdles in the negotiations. Discussions have also focused on Iran’s nuclear programme and demands from Washington regarding Tehran’s enriched uranium stockpile.
He was also uncomfortable with either Russia or China taking custody of Iran’s highly enriched uranium reserves, Trump said during the meeting.
Meanwhile, US secretary of state Marco Rubio addressed the Cabinet meeting and indicated that negotiations were moving forward, though cautiously.
“There’s been some progress and some interest, and we’ll see over the next few hours and days whether progress could be made,” Rubio said.
He reiterated Washington’s core demand in the talks, adding: “The bottom line is Iran’s never going to have a nuclear weapon.”
