Trump says Iran and Oman will not control Strait of Hormuz; deal remains elusive

WASHINGTON - US President Donald Trump on May 27 dismissed a report that Iran and Oman would manage shipping through the Strait of Hormuz as part of a deal to end the war, in a sign that any potential agreement remained elusive.

Mr Trump’s comments came after Iranian state TV reported that it had obtained an unofficial draft of an agreement that would restore commercial shipping through the strategic waterway to pre-war levels within a month, with Iran and Oman jointly managing traffic.

That framework also would have the United States lift its blockade of Iranian ports and withdraw military forces from Iran’s vicinity.

Mr Trump said no single country would have control over the waterway, and appeared to threaten Oman, a country with which the United States has decades-long military and economic ties.

“Nobody’s going to control (the strait),” Mr Trump said at a Cabinet meeting attended by reporters. “It’s international waters and Oman will behave just like everybody else, or we’ll have to blow them up. They understand that, they’ll be fine.”

The White House and Oman’s embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Mr Trump’s statement indicated that the US and Iran remain far apart as they seek an initial deal to end the war, which has killed thousands and sent global energy prices sharply higher since it began with US and Israeli strikes on Feb 28.

The President has repeatedly said a deal is close at hand since a ceasefire took effect in early April.

Sticking points in talks seeking to end the three-month-long conflict include reopening the strait, through which a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas travelled before the war, and the issue of the dismantling of Iran’s nuclear capacity.

Iran is also seeking to lift sanctions and unfreeze funds held abroad. The waterway is covered by international law that guarantees foreign vessels the right to pass through.

“We’ll watch over it, but nobody’s going to control it – that’s part of the negotiation that we have,” Mr Trump said.

He has also asked Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt and Jordan to join the Abraham Accords normalising relations with Israel as part of a deal to end the war, which they have declined to do.

He brought up the issue again at the Cabinet meeting. “I’m not sure we should make the deal if they don’t sign, if you want to know the truth,” Mr Trump said.

US forces in the region

Iranian state TV said the draft deal would also have the US withdraw military forces from the immediate vicinity, though it said the issue of US troops in the region needed further discussion. The White House dismissed the report as a “complete fabrication”. Tehran did not comment.

Oil prices fell more than 5 per cent after the Iranian television report, before regaining about a fifth of that fall.

The US military has some 15,000 troops enforcing a blockade of Iran and has thousands of additional forces at bases throughout the region, including in Gulf states such as Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

US naval vessels, some with thousands of sailors and Marines aboard, regularly transit the region, stopping in ports including in Oman. The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Nuclear issue for a second round, Iran says

The Iranian TV report did not mention Iran’s nuclear programme, which the US wants disbanded.

Iranian sources have said that talks on the nuclear issue will come in a second round of negotiations – something that may not be acceptable to some of Mr Trump’s closest supporters. Iran says its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes only.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said at the Cabinet meeting: “The bottom line is, Iran’s never going to have a nuclear weapon.”

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Navy said on May 27 that 23 ships including oil tankers, container ships and other commercial vessels passed through the Hormuz with its permission in the previous 24 hours – a fraction of the daily 125 to 140 vessels passing through before the conflict. The war has also created political problems for Mr Trump at home.

US polls show the war is deeply unpopular with the American public, less than six months before midterm elections that will determine whether his Republican Party retains control of the US Senate and House of Representatives. REUTERS