Trump threatened to 'blow up' Oman

(Patria) - President Donald Trump appeared to threaten an attack on US ally Oman if it sided with Iran over the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, AFP reported.

Trump said Oman must "behave" or they will be "blown up," when asked if he would accept a short-term deal that would allow Iran and Oman to control the waterway.

"No, the strait will be open for all," Trump told reporters at a White House cabinet meeting.

"These are international waters and Oman will behave like everyone else or we will have to blow them up. They understand, it will be fine."

The White House did not immediately respond to AFP's question as to whether Trump misspoke and intended to refer to Iran, not Oman.

Oman is a key US ally that has tried to mediate the Middle East war and has itself been targeted by Tehran.

The US State Department later released a video and transcript of Trump's comments about Oman, without any corrections or clarifications.

The seventy-nine-year-old appeared to have confused Iran and Venezuela earlier, saying that the South American nation, whose leader Nicolas Maduro was overthrown by US forces in January, "no longer has a navy, no longer has an air force."

Trump has repeatedly used such phrasing to refer to Iran, which was attacked by the US and Israel on February 28.

Iran has hinted that it seeks to impose a new reality in the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world's oil passes, by charging passage for ships and sharing revenues with Oman.

Trump is increasingly frustrated as negotiations to end the Middle East war and reopen the strait have stalled again, just days after he said a deal was close.