President Donald Trump on Wednesday said Washington could resume attacks on Iran and declared that Gulf countries “owe it” to the US to join the Abraham Accords.
He also appeared to threaten Oman, a key US ally and strategic partner in the Gulf if it sought to exercise control over the Strait of Hormuz.
Speaking at a cabinet meeting at the White House, Mr Trump said Iran was eager to reach a deal but had not yet met US expectations.
“Iran very much wants to make a deal,” he said. “So far they haven’t gotten there … We’re not satisfied with it, but we will be.”
Mr Trump then issued another warning about possible military action against Tehran.
“Maybe we will go back and finish it, maybe not,” he said.
He added that under a potential framework deal with Tehran, the Strait of Hormuz would open immediately but that it would not be controlled by anybody, including Oman.
“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 them up,” Mr Trump said.
The White House did not immediately comment further, but the State Department posted a clip of his quote about Oman.
His comments came after Iranian state television reported that it had obtained what it described as a draft 14-point preliminary agreement with the US – a claim the White House dismissed as a “complete fabrication”.
Mr Trump also said he wanted Gulf nations to normalise relations with Israel immediately through the Abraham Accords.
“It’ll be historic if they do it,” he said. “I think they owe that to the US.”
The US President said Washington should reconsider moving forward with a deal with Iran if Gulf countries refused to join the accords.
“I’m not sure we should make the deal if they don’t sign,” he said. “We’re requesting strongly that they join. It’ll be great. It’d be great for Saudi Arabia, great for Qatar, Kuwait – the whole group.”
The Abraham Accords, brokered during Mr Trump’s first term, established diplomatic relations between Israel and Arab countries including the UAE and Bahrain.
The comments come as the Trump administration continues to struggle to end the war, launched alongside Israel in February, and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Mr Trump insisted he was not under political pressure to bring the conflict to a close, despite the war rattling global markets, driving up prices and fuelling instability across the Middle East.
“One of the things that will happen is the strait will open immediately,” he said. “But it’s got to be perfect. I didn’t do this to get a crumby agreement.”
The midterm elections loom in November, however, and rising costs and involvement in overseas conflicts are emerging as key political issues.
Mr Trump said Iranian leaders wrongly believed they could simply wait him out politically.
“They thought they were going to outwait me,” he said, adding: “I don’t care about the midterms.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said there had been some progress in negotiations, but cautioned that it remained unclear whether a breakthrough was imminent.
“I think there’s been some progress and some interest,” Mr Rubio said. “We’ll see over the next few hours and days whether progress can be made.”
