Trump threatened the allies: either NATO, Japan and South Korea help Iran as he wants or else “the future of these alliances will be very bad”. Trump also asks China for help. But until you see: almost everyone is saying ‘no’ to Trump – Denmark is “open-minded” but emphasizes that the USA is “no longer the closest ally”
From Berlin, Trump received a ‘no’ in this way: “”This is not our war, we didn’t start it.” German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius stresses that the country will not participate militarily in operations in the Strait of Hormuz, despite the American request.
Pistorius guarantees that Germany will not deviate from its objective in Ukraine, even if the media pressure had turned towards . “We are against easing sanctions against Russia”, he stresses, quoted by Reuters.
Pistorius also takes the opportunity to question: what can a handful of European frigates do that the powerful North American navy is not capable of?
From London, Trump also heard a ‘no’: “The Strait of Hormuz will not be a NATO mission.” British Prime Minister Keir Starmer says the UK will not be drawn into a full-blown war in Iran.
Starmer guarantees that the United Kingdom will continue to work on a quick resolution, but recalled that when the war ends it will be necessary to have some type of agreement with Iran. The British Prime Minister highlighted, however, that reopening the Strait of Hormuz is not a simple task.
The Greek government has also announced that it has no intention of getting involved in operations in the Strait of Hormuz.
Meanwhile, Italy announced the same. The Italian Foreign Minister says the correct approach to use in the Strait of Hormuz is diplomacy, adding that Italy does not currently have any naval missions that could be moved to the Strait of Hormuz.
Australia will also not send warships to the Strait of Hormuz. “We will not send any ships to the Strait of Hormuz. We know how extremely important this is, but it is not something that has been asked of us nor to which we are contributing”, declared Australian Transport Minister, Catherine King, in statements to national broadcaster ABC.
Japan also indicated that it “does not foresee” a maritime security operation in the Strait of Hormuz. “In the current situation in Iran, we do not intend to order a maritime security operation”, declared, before Parliament, the Japanese Minister of Defense, Shinjiro Koizumi.
Meanwhile, in Denmark, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen says the US is no longer its closest ally. And, in response to Donald Trump’s request, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Denmark, Lars Løkke Rasmussen, states that it is necessary to analyze the issue with an open mind in order to understand how the Danes can contribute to facilitating navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.
The threat
Donald Trump wants help from allies to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, or rather, Donald Trump demands help from allies to reopen the sea lane through which a fifth of the world’s oil production passes and which was closed by Iran after the war started by the USA and Israel.
NATO is the main target of the threat, but also the Asian allies – South Korea and Japan – and even the economic rival China, who, according to the President of the United States, should join the North American war effort, which has already lasted two weeks.
“It’s only appropriate that those who benefit from the Strait help ensure that nothing bad happens there,” Trump argued, pointing out that Europe and China rely heavily on oil coming from the Gulf, unlike the United States.
“If there is no response or if the response is negative, I think it will be very bad for the future of NATO,” he added during an eight-minute telephone interview.
For Trump, it shouldn’t even be necessary to ask for help, given everything the US has done for Ukraine in the war with Russia. “We have this thing called NATO. We were very nice. We didn’t have to help them in Ukraine. Ukraine is thousands of miles away from us, but we helped. Now let’s see if they help us. Because for a long time I’ve been saying we’ll be there for them, but they won’t be there for us. And I’m not sure they would be,” he said.
Regarding the type of help he wants, after answering “whatever it takes”, he ended up confirming that he would like allies to send, for example, minesweeper shipswhich Europe will have in greater numbers than the United States, but also troops.
