President Donald Trump on Monday repeated his call for nations to help unblock the Strait of Hormuz and complained that some were not very enthusiastic about providing help to Washington.
Trump “wants nations to help police the strait after Iran responded to attacks by the United States and Israel by using drones, missiles and mines to effectively close the canal to tankers that normally carry a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas.”
“Some are very enthusiastic about this and some are not. Some are countries that we have helped for many, many years. We have protected them from horrible outside sources, and they were not that enthusiastic. And the level of enthusiasm matters to me,” Trump said at an event at the White House.
He also said some nations said they would be willing to help, but Trump did not say “the names of any countries.”
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The US and Israeli attacks on Iran have rattled global energy markets, driving up oil prices and driving up gasoline costs for American consumers. The surge threatens to complicate Trump’s domestic economic agenda and could weigh on Republican prospects in November’s midterm elections.
Several U.S. allies said Monday they had no immediate plans to send ships to unblock the Strait of Hormuz. Germany, Spain and Italy were among the allies that ruled out participating in any mission in the Gulf, at least for now.
Other countries were more cautious: Britain and Denmark said they would consider ways they could help, but stressed the need to de-escalate and avoid being drawn into war.
France has said it will probably help.
Earlier on Monday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the United States was “fine” with some Iranian, Indian and Chinese ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz for now. Oil prices fell about 1% on Monday.
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Without specifying which country or countries he spoke to, Trump broadcast a conversation that appeared to be a plea for help that was rejected. “We have some countries where we have 45,000 troops…protecting them from danger and we’ve done a great job. And well, we want to know, do you have any minesweepers? Well, I’d rather not get involved, sir,” he said.
Over the weekend, Trump threatened new attacks on Iran’s Kharg Island, which handles about 90% of the country’s exports, after hitting military targets there and provoking fresh retaliation from Tehran. The United States is in contact with Iran, Trump said, although he doubted Tehran was ready for serious talks to end the conflict.
(FRANCE 24 with Reuters)
