In a a serious development in the Middle East, US President Donald Trump is turning on a key US ally.

He has threatened to bomb Oman if it interferes in the Strait of Hormuz.

“If Oman gets in the way, we’ll bomb the s*** out of them,” Trump told Fox

In a a serious development in the Middle East, US President Donald Trump is turning on a key US ally.

He has threatened to bomb Oman if it interferes in the Strait of Hormuz.

“If Oman gets in the way, we’ll bomb the s*** out of them,” Trump told Fox News journalist Trey Yingst.

It come as a 60-day ceasefire with Iran expires – and officials say there’s been very little diplomatic progress to reopen the key waterway.

University of Waikato international law professor Alexander Gillespie told * The Front Page* the relationship between the US and Oman is long-standing.

“It goes back to the 19th century. They are allies. They are good friends. But with regard to the war on Iran, Oman has tried to be more neutral and not be directly involved.

“They have been targeted by Iran, but they’ve not let America use their territory for forward attacks against Iran.

“They’re trying to be negotiators. The problem is that the negotiations may have upset Trump,” he said.

Gillespie said it would be surprising if Trump acted on his threat.

“But having said that, many things that he does are surprising. It would not help the war effort. It would just escalate it in the wrong direction because it would give more allies to Iran than to the Americans.

“He could be trying to bypass their diplomacy because what they may be seeking is a joint agreement over the control of the Strait of Hormuz, and that would mean that the two countries, because there is a choke point in the strait, would co-operate to make sure that there is a tolling arrangement so that fees would be charged for vessels going backwards and forwards.

“That would be a terrible thing for Trump,” he said.

Meanwhile, Trump has said the US will “substantially reduce” joint military exercises with South Korea, citing his “very good relationship” with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un.

“This is a highly volatile situation, and right now people need to realise that the linkages between North Korea and Russia are increasing.

“There’s no control over North Korea’s nuclear ambitions, and South Korea is feeling increasingly vulnerable. The risk here is that you lose the ability to prepare for a possible attack because you need your forces to train together to make sure that they have a readiness, and that’s because they can’t rely on America to have their back.

“That means countries like South Korea and Japan will start thinking, ‘Maybe we too should have a nuclear weapon because we can’t rely on America right now.’

“It’s not the short-term thing that Trump’s doing, it’s the long-term consequences,” Gillespie said.

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The Front Page is a daily news podcast from the New Zealand Herald, available to listen to every weekday from 5pm. The podcast is presented by Chelsea Daniels, an Auckland-based journalist with a background in world news and crime/justice reporting who joined NZME in 2016.

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