The president who cried "wolf": Trump's threats yield diminishing returns | Dan Perry

Dan Perry argues that Trump's threats to bomb Oman amid possible negotiations with Iran over Hormuz are absurd and weaken America. He proposes graduated pressure, sanctions, and quiet diplomacy instead of inflammatory rhetoric, warning that bombing would destroy an important alliance and push Muscat closer to Tehran.

Dan Perry's column in Maariv criticizes President Trump's threats to bomb Oman, amid reports that Muscat is negotiating with Iran on a mechanism to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which may include payments from commercial vessels. Perry claims that Trump's inflammatory rhetoric, which included a threat that "a whole civilization will die" in Iran four months ago, weakens America's standing rather than strengthening it. He notes that Oman is a longtime U.S. ally, the first in the Gulf to host an Israeli leader (Yitzhak Rabin in 1994), and grants the U.S. military access to its ports. Perry offers an alternative: graduated pressure through sanctions, reconsidering security cooperation, and coordination with Saudi Arabia and the UAE, instead of theatrical threats. He calls for speaking to Oman "as one speaks to a friend who has made a very serious mistake" and making clear that the international community will not allow an arrangement that grants Iran the ability to regulate international shipping.