Just two months ago, NATO was in the middle of an existential crisis over President Donald Trump’s insistence that the U.S. take control of Greenland. He threatened tariffs and refused to rule out military action, but eventually backed down.
Then on Sunday, Trump demanded the alliance help him clear the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has blocked since the U.S. and Israel launched their war on the Islamic republic two weeks ago.
He says the Strait of Hormuz must be reopened to „ensure stability in the markets“.
„That is not a simple task,“ he says, which is why the UK is working with „all of our allies“ to bring a „viable plan“ to restore freedom of navigation to the region.
“We’re talking to countries about policing the straits because they are the ones — you know, we don’t get oil, very little, 1%. China, as an example, gets about 90% of its oil from the Hormuz Strait. It’d be nice to have other countries policing with us. And we’ll help, and we’ll work with them.”
He added that the responsibility should lie with nations whose economies rely on the route. “I’m demanding that these countries come in and protect their own territory because it is their own territory,” he said.
The narrow sea passage in the Persian Gulf funnels nearly a fifth of the world‘s oil to market, but it has been effectively closed to tanker traffic since Iran began targeting shipping at the outbreak of the war.
“The United States of America has beaten and completely decimated Iran, both Militarily, Economically, and in every other way, but the Countries of the World that receive Oil through the Hormuz Strait must take care of that passage, and we will help — A LOT!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
US President Donald Trump stepped up calls to reopen the vital Strait of Hormuz, saying warships will “hopefully” be sent to the area near Iran’s coast to help commercial vessels sail through safely.
His comments on Truth Social — which didn’t provide a timeline — came hours after he ordered a strike on military sites on Kharg Island, from which Iran exports almost all its oil, upping the ante in a Middle East war that’s raged for more than two weeks and shows little sign of easing.
US President Donald Trump on Saturday urged other nations, including China, to deploy ships to help secure the Strait of Hormuz, a key route for global oil supplies disrupted by the war in the Middle East.
France has already sent a small military contingent to Greenland and has plans to send sea, air and land forces, though the details remain unclear.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani told an international conference in the Qatari capital that international mediators, led by the U.S., are working „to force the way forward“ to the second phase to cement the deal.
„What we have just done is a pause,“ he told the Doha Forum. „We cannot consider it yet a ceasefire.“
Speaking at the Doha Forum in Qatar, he said the international stabilization force needed to function as a peacekeeping force.
The British prime minister has said that a British-led peacekeeping force is contingent on U.S. support.
Biden told Group of Seven leaders Friday the U.S. would assist with training Ukrainian pilots on modern fighter aircraft, including American-made F-16s, in a possible signal that Washington is closer to arming Ukraine with the planes.
(Fri May 19, 2023)
Administration officials are not aware, however, of any formal requests by any allies to export F-16s, and State Department officials who would normally be tasked with the paperwork to approve such third-party transfers have not been told to get to work, officials said.
(May 17, 2023)