Other countries have either pushed back or remained cautious on President Donald Trump’s request for countries to send ships to the Strait of Hormuz, the crucial oil route under near-blockade by Iran during the war in the Middle East.
Trump has said the US will keep bombing the shoreline and Iranian vessels to “soon get the Hormuz Strait OPEN, SAFE, and FREE!” but has also called on other countries to send warships.
“Hopefully China, France, Japan, South Korea, the UK, and others, that are affected by this artificial constraint, will send Ships to the area so that the Hormuz Strait will no longer be a threat by a Nation that has been totally decapitated,” Trump said in a Truth Social post on 14 March.
The US president later warned that failing to secure the strait would be “very bad for the future of Nato”.
The strait has been effectively blocked by Iran, except for a handful of vessels carrying Iranian oil to countries like India and China, since Israel and the US attacked Iran on 28 February.
Multiple commercial cargo ships in the strait have been hit by “unknown projectiles” during more than two weeks of war, with one person reported killed.
About 20% of the world’s oil travels through the passage. Global oil prices rose, and some countries in Asia are taking measures to conserve fuel.
Trump has said the US Navy could escort ships through the strait – his energy secretary’s official social media erroneously posted that the US had escorted one, but it has not happened yet.
This is what other countries have said in response to Trump’s request.