Iran backed Oman after President Donald Trump threatened to attack the longtime U.S. ally.Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said on Thursday Iran expresses solidarity with Oman after “U.S. officials’ threats,” according to Reuters.His comments came a day after Trump appeared to threaten Oman, which is on the opposite side of the Strait of Hormuz from Iran.
“No, the strait’s got to be open to everybody; it’s international waters,” the president told reporters during a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday. “We’ll watch over it, but nobody’s going to control it. That’s part of the negotiation that we have.”
“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 ’em up. They understand that. They’ll be fine.”
It was unclear whether the president was serious in his intent to threaten Oman or if it was a joke, though the State Department shared a clip of this comment on social media, reiterating the message.
The two countries formalized their relationship with the 1833 signing of the “Treaty of Amity and Commerce,” and it was the first American bilateral accord with an Arab Gulf State. Oman and the US expanded their relationship with the signing of the “Treaty of Amity, Economic Relations, and Consular Rights” in 1958, and the U.S. opened its embassy in Muscat in 1972, while they opened their embassy in Washington, D.C., the following year.
