US allies rebuff Trump's request for support in Strait of Hormuz
The Straits Times
BERLIN/BRUSSELS/LONDON, March 16 - U.S. allies said they had no immediate plans to send ships to unblock the Strait of Hormuz, rebuffing a request by President Donald Trump for military support to keep the vital waterway open. Read more at straitstimes.com.
BERLIN/BRUSSELS/LONDON, March 16 - U.S. allies said they had no immediate plans to send ships to unblock the Strait of Hormuz, rebuffing a request by President Donald Trump for military support to keep the vital waterway open.
Trump called on nations to help police the strait after Iran responded to U.S.-Israeli attacks by using drones, missiles and mines to effectively close the strategic channel off its shores for tankers transporting a fifth of global oil supply.
Most NATO countries, several of whom have been at the sharp end of criticism from Trump in recent months, are usually wary of angering the White House but are now signalling reluctance to become embroiled in the conflict with Tehran.
"What does (...) Donald Trump expect a handful or two handfuls of European frigates to do in the Strait of Hormuz that the powerful U.S. navy cannot do?" German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said in Berlin on Monday, as he downplayed threats by Trump that failing to come to Washington's aid could have consequences for the NATO alliance.
"This is not our war, we have not started it," he added.
The conflict has nothing to do with NATO and Germany has no plans to be drawn into it, government spokesperson Stefan Kornelius said.
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