‘We Have To Blow Them Up’: Will Donald Trump Soon Attack Ally Oman Over Strait of Hormuz?

US IRAN WAR: Donald Trump has amassed an incredible “list” of countries he has threatened to attack and attacked as president. Oman was added to that list on Wednesday, with Trump threatening to attack the country if it joins Iran in its control of the Strait of Hormuz. “Oman will act like everybody else or we have to blow ‘em up,” Trump says at White House Cabinet meeting. It was especially notable for being an aside, something Trump would seem to have dropped into with little forethought. 

Will Trump Soon Attack Ally Oman?

And that’s become somewhat typical for Trump. Oman is at least the 15th nation to either threaten to attack or leave the door open to attack, or actually attack, him in his 2 years as president. Almost all these were in the first 16 months of his second term, although some lasted into both terms.

Iran has shut down the Strait since late February, which normally transports about a fifth of the world’s oil, and is causing an energy crisis and concern for the global economy. In the past few days, Tehran has been trying to convince Oman, a U.S. ally, to implement a system to collect tolls from ships passing through the strait, according to the Associated Press, citing a regional official.

“They would like to control it and they will be controlling it in international waters,” said Trump, who emphasised the strait was in international waters. In a remarkable threat, he added, “Oman will act like everyone else. Or else we will have to blow them up. They know that. They will be OK.”

How many strikes has Trump launched? 

Trump already launched strikes in seven countries this term: Iran, Iraq, Nigeria, Somalia, Syria, Venezuela, and Yemen. Some of these places saw attacks during his first term, too. And that’s not even counting the strikes on alleged drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean, almost 60 vessels hit, with more than 190 people dead.

This term, he’s also talked about striking seven other countries: Canada, Colombia, Cuba, Greenland (which belongs to Denmark), Mexico, Panama, and now Oman. Back in his first term, he threatened Mexico and North Korea as well.

Trump’s been trying recently to hammer out a peace deal with Iran, but so far, nothing’s come of it. At a meeting on Wednesday, he blamed Iran for dragging things out and trying to wait him out until the US midterms in November. Last weekend, when Trump hinted a deal was close, a few Republican hawks, people who actually supported his call for war with Iran alongside Israel, pushed back against him for once.

New US strikes against Iranian military base

The US armed forces have conducted new strikes against the military facilities of Iran, in particular, against a military target in the port city of Bandar Abbas. In addition, Centcom announced that four unmanned Iranian one-way strike drones were shot down “as they posed a threat” near the strategic waterway of the Strait of Hormuz.”

As a result of the strike, the Iranians’ control station in Bandar Abbas has been attacked just as they were ready to launch a fifth one. This attack took place amid a tenuous ceasefire between the US and Iran, as well as protracted peace talks to put an end to the three-month war which has severely restricted shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and hiked up global energy prices.

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