Middle East war mediator Oman found itself in President Donald Trump's crosshairs Monday when he threatened to bomb the country if it "gets in the way" of a U.S. deal with Tehran as the clock ticked down on a 60-day deadline.

"If Oman gets in the way, we'll bomb the shit out of them," Trump told Fox News journalist Trey Yingst, referring to ongoing talks between Oman and Iran on control of the Strait of Hormuz, while Washington is also pursuing its own talks.

Iranian and Omani officials have been talking for weeks on future maritime navigation arrangements through the shipping route and the Foreign Ministry in Tehran said earlier Monday that the two sides were working on a joint declaration.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei told reporters in Tehran Monday that "an understanding has been reached regarding the map of the transit route."

He did not elaborate, but details that have previously emerged suggest the deal would reopen the strait with ships entering through a route close to Iran and exiting through a route close to Oman. Ships would transit without paying fees or tolls during an interim period.

However, Trump has repeatedly insisted that the strait – which Tehran effectively closed at the start of the Middle East war on Feb. 28 – is under U.S. control despite traffic remaining throttled.

Earlier Friday, Trump claimed that he would even declare the Strait of Hormuz part of U.S. territory, while Iran retorted that the crucial energy waterway it has blockaded "will remain Iranian."

Before the launch of the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran, the Hormuz Strait was considered an open, international waterway. It carries significant portions of global energy shipments, as well as other commodities.

Tehran has used its effective seizing of control over the strait as leverage against the U.S.-led attempts to destroy its military and force it to abandon a controversial nuclear power program.

Iran's coast flanks the north side of Hormuz and Oman lies on the south.

Trump also said that Iran should "put up the white flag of surrender," according to Yingst's post on X on his interview with the president.

Trump insisted that he was in no hurry to reach a deal despite the deep unpopularity of the war among Americans ahead of November midterm elections in the United States, with opposition Democrats seeking to take control of Congress from Trump's Republicans.

Trump told Yingst that there is a direct back-channel between his administration and officials of Iran's Revolutionary Guard. "They're good poker players, but they're dying," he was quoted as saying.

'No nuclear Iran'

Trump also reiterated ⁠Monday that ⁠Iran cannot have ​a ​nuclear ⁠weapon amid a lack of progress in diplomatic efforts to resolve the ⁠Middle ⁠East conflict.

"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.

The comments came as the 60-day deadline for a U.S.-Iran peace and nuclear deal set by Trump himself back in June expired Monday, with both sides further from agreement than when talks began.

Talks, such as they are, have focused on reopening Hormuz and lifting a U.S. blockade on Iran, both of which were supposed to have happened under the interim deal.

There has been no sign of any compromise on the strait, or that detailed nuclear talks have even begun.

Deadline expires

The U.S. has no good options for getting out of the war it started alongside Israel.

Acceding to Iran's latest demands would mean giving it control over a critical international waterway that carried a fifth of the world's traded oil and gas before the war – and would be tantamount to admitting defeat.

So both sides have dug in, hoping the other will blink first. So far, neither has.

The June deal, known as the Memorandum of Understanding, called for a halt to all military operations and set a 60-day deadline for an agreement to permanently end the war and resolve the longstanding dispute over Iran's nuclear activities.

It called for the Strait of Hormuz to be reopened but gave Iran a vaguely defined role in facilitating traffic, leaving open the possibility it could charge fees after the 60-day deadline. Iran has seized on that clause to claim control over the waterway.

A week after the deal was signed, Iran began firing on vessels using a route along the coast of Oman, on the other side of the strait, that is overseen by the U.S. military and intended to bypass Tehran's control.

The U.S. responded by striking Iran, which retaliated by attacking Arab countries hosting American forces, like Jordan, Kuwait and Bahrain. The U.S. canceled waivers issued as part of the deal that had allowed Iran to sell its oil internationally and Trump restored a blockade of Iran's ports.

Each side accused the other of violating the June agreement, of which almost nothing remains as of Monday.