President Donald Trump has issued a stark threat to Oman, telling the Gulf country to "behave" or face attack from the US.
"Oman will behave just like everybody else, or we'll have to blow them up. They understand that. They'll be fine," the president said in remarks during a cabinet meeting at the White House on Wednesday.
It is unclear what prompted Trump to make the charge against the country. The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
Oman previously served as a key mediator between the US and Iran, and reports have recently suggested that it is working with Iran to establish a toll system for ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz, a key demand from Tehran amid negotiations to end the war.
An Omani exclave sits on the southern tip of the strait, directly across the critical waterway from Iran.
Trump said the strait is "international waters; nobody's going to control it,' but maintained the US is "going to watch over it."
"That's part of the negotiation that we have. They would like to control it. Nobody's going to control it," he said.
Earlier, commenting on the state of the negotiations to end the war, Trump said he is "not satisfied with it, but we will be. Either that, or we'll have to just finish the job." Iran, he said, is "starting to give us the things that they have to give us."
"Iran is very much intent; they want very much to make a deal. "So far they haven't gotten there," he said.
"They're negotiating on fumes. We'll see what happens. Maybe we have to go back and finish it. Maybe we don't."
While officials in the US and beyond have been cautiously optimistic about the prospects of finalising an agreement, questions have mounted about whether it will touch on Iran's stockpile of enriched uranium.
Asked if he would accept the possibility of China or Russia taking the nuclear material, Trump said, "No, I wouldn't be comfortable. That would not make me comfortable."
Regional tensions boiled over on February 28 when the US and Israel launched surprise attacks on Iran, prompting Tehran to retaliate with barrages of drones and missiles that hit targets across the region as Tehran shuttered the Strait of Hormuz.
A ceasefire took effect on April 8 through Pakistani mediation, but talks in Islamabad failed to produce a lasting agreement.
Trump later extended the truce indefinitely while maintaining a blockade on vessels travelling to or from Iranian ports through the strategic waterway, periodically saying a peace deal was close.
