UK, Australia and Japan both said Monday they have no plans to send naval or maritime vessels to help secure the Strait of Hormuz, after US President Donald Trump demanded that a group of about seven countries support the US in protecting the strategic waterway.We have not made any decisions whatsoever about dispatching escort ships. We are \u200bcontinuing to examine what Japan can do independently and what can \u200bbe done within the legal framework,” Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi told \u200bparliament.Australia’s Minister Catherine King told national broadcaster ABC that, “We won’t be sending a ship to the Strait of Hormuz. We know how incredibly important that is but that’s not something we’ve been asked or we’re contributing to.”In a tense weekend phone call, Prime Minister Keir Starmer reportedly told President Trump that the UK is not prepared to commit Royal Navy destroyers to the blockaded waterway. While the US has been \u201cbombing the hell out of the shoreline,\u201d London remains wary of being dragged into a broader regional war.Trump confirmed he made “demands” to a group of around seven countries to “come in and protect their own territory,” referring to the strategic waterway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While declining to name the countries his administration is negotiating with, Trump argued that those countries were heavily reliant on Middle East crude oil, while claiming that the US was not, due to its own oil supplies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Earlier in the war, the Trump administration had floated plans to escort ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz to protect them against Iranian attacks.However, those plans were later set aside as more of a longer-term plan due to the complex nature. Trump has since shifted to demanding that other countries take on the task of policing the waterway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On Sunday, news website Axios reported that the president later this week hoped to announce a coalition of countries to reopen the strait.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
UK, Australia and Japan both said Monday they have no plans to send naval or maritime vessels to help secure the Strait of Hormuz, after US President Donald Trump demanded that a group of about seven countries support the US in protecting the strategic waterway.We have not made any decisions whatsoever about dispatching escort ships. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6256,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6255","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n