Japan and Australia said they are not planning to send naval vessels to escort commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz after President Donald Trump called on allies to help reopen the vital waterway amid the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.
Trump, arguing that countries dependent on Gulf oil have a responsibility to protect the corridor through which about 20 percent of the world’s energy flows, said his administration has contacted seven nations to form a maritime coalition. He did not identify them, though over the weekend he named China, France, Japan, South Korea and Britain among those he hoped would participate.
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“I’m demanding that these countries come in and protect their own territory because it is their territory,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One returning to Washington from Florida.
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi told parliament her government, constrained by its war-renouncing constitution, has made no decision to dispatch ships. “We have not made any decisions whatsoever about dispatching escort ships,” she said, adding that Tokyo is still assessing “what Japan can do independently and what can be done within the legal framework.”
Australia, a key Indo-Pacific ally of the United States, also signaled it will not send warships. “We know how incredibly important that is, but that’s not something that we’ve been asked or that we’re contributing to,” Catherine King, a member of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s cabinet, told Australia’s ABC.
Markets in Asia opened cautiously after Trump’s remarks, with Brent crude rising more than 1 percent to above $104.50 and regional equities mostly weaker.
Trump told the Financial Times he expects China to help unblock the strait ahead of a planned meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing later this month, and suggested he might delay the trip if Beijing does not offer assistance. “I think China should help too because China gets 90 percent of its oil from the straits,” he said. China’s Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
The European Union is weighing whether to bolster a small naval mission in the Middle East but is not expected to decide on extending its role to the Strait of Hormuz, according to diplomats and officials. In London, a Downing Street spokesperson said British Prime Minister Keir Starmer discussed the need to reopen the strait with Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. South Korea said it would carefully review Washington’s request.
Although some Iranian vessels and a handful of foreign-flagged ships have navigated the chokepoint, the passage has been effectively closed to most of the world’s tanker traffic since the United States and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28 at the outset of an intensive bombing campaign that has struck thousands of targets across the country, according to the governments involved.
Despite repeated U.S. assertions that Iran’s military capabilities have been degraded, drone attacks continued to rattle the Gulf. Dubai authorities said they contained a fire and briefly suspended flights at the city’s airport, a major international hub, after a drone hit a fuel tank. Saudi state media reported that 34 drones were intercepted over the kingdom’s eastern region in one hour. No injuries were reported in either incident.
As oil prices climbed, U.S. officials sought to tamp down economic jitters, predicting the war would end within weeks and that energy costs would fall afterward. Trump has threatened additional strikes on Kharg Island, Iran’s main oil export hub, and has said Tehran wants to negotiate.
Iran publicly rejected that characterization. “We have never asked for a ceasefire, and we have never asked even for negotiations,” Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi told CBS’ Face the Nation. “We are ready to defend ourselves for as long as it takes.”
Trump also increased pressure on European allies, warning that NATO faces a “very bad” future if members fail to come to Washington’s aid over the strait. The White House has not disclosed the full list of countries contacted about a coalition or whether a timeline has been set for any decision.
With energy markets on edge and commercial shipping disrupted through one of the world’s most strategic waterways, the diplomatic scramble underscores how quickly the security crisis in the Gulf has rippled across global politics and trade.
By Abdiwahab Ahmed
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
