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Economy

Iran war intensifies as Trump demands surrender within 60 days

US President Donald Trump on Monday escalated threats against Iran, demanding it surrender to end the war and warning Oman it would be bombed if it obstructed shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.

Source: The Business Times Singapore · August 17, 2026 at 7:27 PM · AI-assisted report

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Iran war intensifies as Trump demands surrender within 60 days
Photo: Someformofhuman / CC BY-SA 4.0

WASHINGTON, 18 AUGUST 2026 —

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US President Donald Trump on Monday escalated threats against Iran, demanding it surrender to end the war and warning Oman it would be bombed if it obstructed shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.

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Trump told Fox News Iran should “put up the white flag of surrender,” repeating his call for Tehran to capitulate after a June interim deal collapsed. The memorandum of understanding, signed 60 days ago, had pledged an “immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts,” but Trump declared it “over” on July 7 and Iran’s foreign ministry said it was “suspended” a week later.

Both sides had agreed to negotiate a final deal—covering issues such as Iran’s nuclear programme—within 60 days, extendable by mutual consent.

Speaking alongside the surrender ultimatum, Trump threatened Oman directly. “If Oman gets in the way, we’ll bomb the shit out of them,” he said in the Fox News interview. Oman and Iran have been in talks to restore commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, which carries one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas volumes.

Fuel prices have risen as the dispute shut key shipping lanes following US-Israeli strikes on Iran that began in late February. Trump acknowledged the political pressure at home ahead of November’s midterm elections—when control of Congress will be decided—but insisted domestic politics played no role in his strategy. “Midterms have nothing to do with my thinking,” he told Fox News.

Earlier on Monday, Trump reiterated his stated goal for the conflict in a post on Truth Social. “The number one Goal is, and always will be, that Iran cannot have, in any way, shape, or form, a Nuclear Weapon,” he wrote.

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Reporting based on The Business Times Singapore. Figures and claims are subject to revision as the story develops. DomainFork publishes editorial context, not investment advice — see our editorial standards.