President Donald Trump on Monday said the U.S. would "bomb" Oman if the Gulf nation "gets in the way," as Washington's 60-day ceasefire with Iran expires with no official negotiations or deal in sight.
Oman has been locked in talks with Tehran over the Strait of Hormuz to reopen the strategically critical waterway to commercial transit, as the U.S. maintains its blockade of Iranian ports.
Iran has continued to deny any direct negotiations with the U.S. Trump said Monday that informal talks are taking place with Iran's Revolutionary Guard, but insisted the U.S. is in no rush to make a deal.
"They're good poker players, but they're dying," Trump told Fox News, referring to the influential Iranian military branch. "I have no time schedule. I'm not in a hurry."
He added: "If Oman gets in the way, we'll bomb the s— out of them."
Also on Monday, Trump reiterated the U.S. stance that Iran must agree to give up on possessing nuclear weapons.
"The number one Goal is, and always will be, that Iran cannot have, in any way, shape, or form, a Nuclear Weapon," Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
It came after shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz slowed to a halt over the weekend ahead of the expiry date of the 60-day ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran on Monday, with no official negotiations or deal in sight.
Only three ships passed through the critical oil passage Sunday, according to data from Kpler. The five-day average for transits stands at 12. Around 130 vessels crossed Hormuz daily before the war started on Feb. 28.
HSBC shipping expert Parash Jain told CNBC's "Squawk Box Europe" on Monday morning that investors should understand "chaos is the norm" for the industry and factor it into their base assumptions.
Talks and negotiations between the U.S. and Iran have stalled as a fragile ceasefire between the two countries is due to expire Monday.
Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said the two sides do "not have anything like a ceasefire," according to quotes from Iranian news outlet Shahrara News on Saturday.
"No negotiations have been held between the United States and us at this time. … Qatar and Pakistan are exchanging messages between the parties and are in contact with us, but this does not mean negotiations," Araghchi said, according to the quotes.
However, Iran's deputy foreign minister, Kazem Gharibabadi, insisted in a post on X on Friday that the strait will remain "Iranian" and only be closed and opened "under Iran's command."
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