Trump ramps up pressure on Iran, threatens Oman over strategic waterway

As the 60-day deadline passed for Iran and the United States to come to an agreement on ending the conflict, US President Donald Trump said during an interview on Monday that Iran should "put up the white flag and surrender".

He said that his administration had opened a back channel for talks with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

"They're good poker players, but they're dying," Trump said of the IRGC during the interview with Fox News. "I have no time schedule … I'm not in a hurry," he said.

Trump also warned Oman not to interfere with US efforts to ensure safe transit in the Strait of Hormuz.

"If Oman gets in the way, we'll bomb the s--t out of them," Trump told Fox News.

Iran said on Monday that talks with Oman about the Strait of Hormuz were continuing, and that safe passage for ships could be reached within days.

"(Iran and Oman) have shown so far that they are determined to draft a mechanism that addresses the interests and concerns of both sides, while simultaneously securing considerations related to international shipping," said Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei.

However, Trump has claimed that the US will maintain control of the strait.

"They don't have control. We have total control. We own it, and at some point, maybe they'll do something, and then they get blown away," Trump told reporters last week, adding on Friday that he planned to declare the waterway a US territory once Iran is defeated.

This prompted Iran to fire back, saying the crucial strait "will remain Iranian".

"The Strait of Hormuz has been Iranian, is Iranian, and will remain Iranian," Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi posted on X on Saturday. "This strait will only be closed and opened under Iran's command."

The Wall Street Journal reported that an unnamed White House official later said that Trump was joking about declaring the Strait of Hormuz as US territory.

Neither side has signaled willingness to renew the 60-day ceasefire, which was brokered with the help of Pakistan.

"We have not yet made a decision to restart negotiations with the United States," Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Saturday.

Only a few ships passed through the Strait on Monday, MarineTraffic reported. About 20 percent of the world's oil and natural gas supply was transported through the strait before the war began in February, though some companies and countries in the region have started finding workarounds.

Oil prices have repeatedly surged since the dispute over the waterway erupted, piling economic and political pressure on Washington as the midterms in November draw near.

Some of that economic pressure is also falling on Iran, which has seen inflation rise to more than 60 percent while oil shipments fell dramatically.

Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, chief of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, has demanded an end to the crippling sanctions, the release of frozen assets and compensation for wartime damage.