US Treasury secretary says Oman has 'no plans' to toll Strait of Hormuz

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Thursday that Oman's American envoy assured him that Muscat has "no plans" to participate in any effort to impose tolls on ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz.

The comments come one day after US President Donald Trump issued a stark warning, saying, "Oman will behave just like everybody else, or we'll have to blow them up. They understand that."

Bessent said the US president was seeking to "punctuate" the importance of "freedom of navigation in the strait."

"I had a call with the Omani ambassador this morning, and he assured me that there were no plans for tolling the strait, as he said, our countries have had 200 years of good relations," Bessent told reporters at the White House.

"He wants to have another 200 more, and I told him that this was a nonstarter, and he did not want to risk either Omani individuals or Omani financial institutions getting sanctioned," he added.

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 the US and Israel started Feb. 28.

An Omani exclave sits on the southern tip of the strait, directly across the critical waterway from Iran.