{"id":349172,"date":"2026-03-16T15:11:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-16T15:11:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/349172\/"},"modified":"2026-03-16T15:11:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-16T15:11:11","slug":"trump-seeks-help-to-keep-strait-of-hormuz-open-as-iran-sees-no-reason-to-talk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/349172\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump seeks help to keep Strait of Hormuz open as Iran \u2018sees no reason to talk\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

US President Donald Trump\u2019s appeal to China, France, Japan, South Korea, Britain and others to send warships to keep the Strait of Hormuz \u201copen and safe\u201d brought no commitments on Sunday as oil prices soar during the Iran war.<\/p>\n

Iran\u2019s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi told CBS that Tehran has been \u201capproached by a number of countries\u201d seeking safe passage for their vessels, \u201cand this is up to our military to decide\u201d.<\/p>\n

He said a group of vessels from \u201cdifferent countries\u201d had been allowed to pass, without providing details.<\/p>\n

Iran has said the strait, through which one fifth of global oil exports normally pass, is open to all except the United States and its allies.<\/p>\n

Mr Araghchi added that \u201cwe don\u2019t see any reason why we should talk with Americans\u201d about finding a way to end the war, noting that Israel and the US started the fighting with coordinated attacks on February 28 during indirect talks on Iran\u2019s nuclear programme.<\/p>\n

He also said Tehran had \u201cno plan to recover\u201d the enriched uranium that is under rubble following US and Israeli attacks last year.<\/p>\n

\"Trump\"US President Donald Trump said he hoped allies would send warships to secure the Strait of Hormuz (Mark Schiefelbein\/AP)\n<\/p>\n

Mr Trump said that he has demanded that about seven countries send warships to keep the Strait of Hormuz open.<\/p>\n

Tehran has accused the United States of using \u201cports, docks and hideouts\u201d in the United Arab Emirates to launch strikes on Kharg Island, home to the main terminal handling Iran\u2019s oil exports, without providing evidence, as oil prices soared.<\/p>\n

Mr Trump said the US is negotiating with countries heavily reliant on Middle East crude to join a coalition to police the waterway, but declined to name them.<\/p>\n

Mr Trump also suggested he may delay his much-anticipated visit to China at the end of the month as he seeks to ramp up the pressure on Beijing to help reopen the strait.<\/p>\n

In an interview on Sunday with the Financial Times, Mr Trump said China\u2019s reliance on oil from the Middle East means it ought to help with a new coalition he is trying to put together to get oil tanker traffic moving.<\/p>\n

Mr Trump said \u201cwe\u2019d like to know\u201d before the trip whether Beijing will help. \u201cWe may delay,\u201d Mr Trump said in the interview.<\/p>\n

Dubai International Airport \u2014 the world\u2019s busiest \u2014 suspended operations after a drone struck a fuel tank, starting a fire. Authorities said it was quickly contained and no injuries were reported.<\/p>\n

\"APTOPIXTwo men ride their motorbike past a billboard of the Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei in central Tehran (Vahid Salemi\/AP)\n<\/p>\n

The United Arab Emirates\u2019 Defence Ministry said forces were intercepting Iranian missiles and drones on Monday morning.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Israeli strikes have deepened Lebanon\u2019s humanitarian crisis, with more than 850 people killed and over 850,000 displaced.<\/p>\n

US energy secretary Chris Wright told NBC he has been \u201cin dialogue\u201d with some of the countries Mr Trump mentioned, and said he expected China \u201cwill be a constructive partner\u201d in reopening the strait.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for China\u2019s embassy to the US, Liu Pengyu, said \u201call parties have the responsibility to ensure stable and unimpeded energy supply\u201d and that China would \u201cstrengthen communication with relevant parties\u201d for de-escalation.<\/p>\n

\"APTOPIXA man chants slogan while the body of General Ali Shamkhani, who was killed in a strike, is being buried in Tehran (Vahid Salemi\/AP)\n<\/p>\n

South Korea\u2019s Foreign Ministry said it \u201ctakes note\u201d of Mr Trump\u2019s call and that it \u201cwill closely coordinate and carefully review\u201d the situation with the US.<\/p>\n

Expectations are high that Mr Trump will ask Japan directly when Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi meets him on Thursday at the White House.<\/p>\n

France previously said it is working with countries \u2014 President Emmanuel Macron mentioned partners in Europe, India and Asia \u2014 on a possible international mission to escort ships through the strait but has stressed it must be when \u201cthe circumstances permit\u201d, when fighting has subsided.<\/p>\n

Foreign minister Johann Wadephul of Germany, which was not mentioned in Mr Trump\u2019s call, told ARD television: \u201cWill we soon be an active part of this conflict? No.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A(PA Graphics)\n<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, emergency oil stocks \u201cwill soon start flowing to global markets,\u201d the International Energy Agency said on Sunday, describing the collective action to lower prices \u201cby far the largest ever\u201d.<\/p>\n

It updated last week\u2019s announcement of 400 million barrels to nearly 412 million. Asian member countries plan to release stocks \u201cimmediately\u201d and reserves from Europe and the Americas will be released \u201cfrom the end of March.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gulf Arab states including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Bahrain reported new missile or drone attacks a day after Iran called for the evacuation of three major ports in the United Arab Emirates \u2014 the first time it has threatened a neighbouring country\u2019s non-US assets.<\/p>\n

Tehran has accused the US of launching Friday\u2019s strikes on Kharg Island, home to Iran\u2019s primary oil terminal, from the UAE. It has threatened to attack US-linked \u201coil, economic and energy infrastructures\u201d if its oil infrastructure is hit.<\/p>\n

US Central Command said it had no response to Iran\u2019s claim, and Anwar Gargash, a diplomatic adviser to the UAE president, rejected it. Gulf countries that host US bases have denied allowing their land or airspace to be used for military operations against Iran.<\/p>\n

\"APTOPIXFire and plumes of smoke rise from an oil facility in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates (Altaf Qadri\/AP)\n<\/p>\n

Iran has fired hundreds of missiles and drones at Arab Gulf neighbours during the war, causing significant damage and rattling economies even as most are intercepted. Tehran says it targets US assets, even as Iranian strikes are reported at civilian sites such as airports and oil fields.<\/p>\n

Iranian strikes have killed at least a dozen civilians in Gulf countries, most of them migrant workers.<\/p>\n

In Iran, the International Committee for the Red Cross said more than 1,300 people have been killed. Iran\u2019s Health Ministry said 223 women and 202 children are among the dead, according to Mizan, the judiciary\u2019s official news agency.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"US President Donald Trump\u2019s appeal to China, France, Japan, South Korea, Britain and others to send warships to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":349173,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-349172","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/349172","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=349172"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/349172\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/349173"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=349172"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=349172"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=349172"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}