Donald Trump has again attacked America’s allies over their reluctance to get involved in the Iran war, warning them the “US won’t be there to help you anymore, just like you weren’t there for us”.
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The US president singled out France and the UK in social media posts, which told “all of those countries that can’t get jet fuel” to “build up some delayed courage, go to the Strait [of Hormuz], and just TAKE IT”.
“The hard part is done. Go get your own oil!” he wrote.
In a second post, Mr Trump said France had been “very unhelpful” after it refused to allow planes carrying military supplies to Israel to fly over French territory. France said its decision was in line with its position since the start of the war, and it was “surprised by this tweet”.
Mr Trump has been expressing intensifying frustration with NATO nations and other allies, including Australia, for refusing to provide more military support for the US-Israel operations in Iran.
France, Spain and Italy are among European nations that have refused to let US warplanes use their military bases, according to local reports. The UK has allowed the US to use British bases, but only for “specific and limited defensive operations”.
Shortly after Mr Trump’s posts, the UK said it would deploy more troops to help Gulf countries facing Iranian attacks.
UK Defence Secretary John Healey, who is visiting the Gulf, said extra air defence teams and systems would be sent to Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Kuwait, and British jets would remain in Qatar.
British media reported the new deployment would boost the UK’s troop numbers in the region to about 1,000. The British defence ministry did not confirm those numbers and emphasised the UK was not “getting drawn into the wider war”.
Iran threatens US big tech
A month after the war began, Iran’s effective blockade of the Strait of Hormuz — through which a fifth of the world’s oil usually travels — is continuing to batter the global economy.
The US is less dependent on oil imports from the Middle East than other parts of the world, particularly Asia, where some countries are implementing emergency measures to reduce fuel demand.
But on Tuesday, local time, the average price of petrol in the US tipped over $US4 a gallon ($5.82 a gallon) — a dreaded headline-making threshold that has not been crossed since August, 2022. It had been less than $US3 a gallon on the eve of the war.
The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is now threatening to retaliate further by attacking American companies in the Middle East.
The IRGC identified 18 possible targets, including tech giants Apple, Google, Microsoft and Facebook’s Meta. It also named Cisco, Hewlett Packard, Intel, IBM, Dell, Palantir, Nvidia, JP Morgan, Tesla, General Electric, Spire Solutions, Boeing and G42.
An IRGC statement said the companies’ employees should stay home from work to protect their lives, and residents who lived near their facilities should evacuate.
‘Regime change has occurred,’ says Hegseth
But US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth encouraged Iran to “cut a deal”.
“This new regime, because regime change has occurred, should be wiser than the last,” he said.
He told a Pentagon press conference he had visited troops in the Middle East over the weekend, but did not reveal where. He said the war’s coming days would be “decisive”.
The number of missiles and drones fired by Iran in the past 24 hours was the lowest since the war started, Mr Hegseth said. US intelligence showed Iran’s military morale had been damaged by US strikes, which had led to “widespread desertions” and “key personnel shortages”, he said.
He also said the “world ought to pay attention” to Mr Trump’s complaints about allies’ reluctance to provide more support.
“President Trump’s been willing to do the heavy lifting on behalf of the free world to address this threat of Iran,” he said.
“It’s not just our problem set going forward, even though we have done the lion’s share of preparation to ensure that that strait will be open.”
Despite the US-UK tensions, Mr Trump also announced plans to host King Charles and Queen Camilla for a state visit in Washington DC on April 27-30.
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