Japan and Australia have said they are not planning to send naval vessels to the Middle East to escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz after US President Donald Trump urged allies to form a coalition aimed at reopening the crucial shipping route, reports RTE.
With the US-Israeli conflict with Iran entering its third week and fuelling instability across the Middle East while disrupting global energy markets, Mr Trump argued that countries heavily dependent on Gulf oil have a duty to secure the strait through which roughly 20% of the world’s energy supply passes, reports RTE.
Asian markets opened cautiously, as Brent crude climbed by more than 1% to above $104.50 while most regional stock markets slipped following Mr Trump’s remarks about recruiting other nations to help protect the passage.
“I’m demanding that these countries come in and protect their own territory because it is their territory,” Mr Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on the journey from Florida to Washington, reports RTE.
“It’s the place from which they get their energy,” he added.
Mr Trump said his administration had already contacted seven countries, though he did not specify which nations were involved, reports RTE.
In a social media post over the weekend he said he hoped China, France, Japan, South Korea, Britain and others would take part.
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said her country, limited by its constitution that renounces war, has no plans to send naval ships to escort vessels in the Middle East, reports RTE.
“We have not made any decisions whatsoever about dispatching escort ships,” Ms Takaichi told parliament.
“We are continuing to examine what Japan can do independently and what can be done within the legal framework,” added Ms Takaichi, reports RTE.
Australia, another major Indo-Pacific ally of the United States, said it had not received a request and would not send naval ships to help reopen the strait either.
“We know how incredibly important that is, but that’s not something that we’ve been asked or that we’re contributing to,” Catherine King, a member of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s cabinet, said in an interview with state broadcaster ABC, reports RTE.
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Mr Trump told the Financial Times yesterday that he expected China to help reopen the strait before his scheduled meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing later this month and suggested he could postpone the trip if assistance was not offered.
“I think China should help too because China gets 90% of its oil from the straits,” Mr Trump said, reports RTE.
“We may delay,” he said in reference to his visit if China did not offer support in the Gulf.
The Chinese foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment, reports RTE.
The US president also increased pressure on European allies to help safeguard the strait, warning that NATO could face a “very bad” future if its members fail to support Washington.
European Union foreign ministers are set to discuss strengthening a small naval mission in the Middle East but are not expected to decide on expanding its role to the Strait of Hormuz, diplomats and officials say, reports RTE.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer discussed the need to reopen the strait with Mr Trump and with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, according to a Downing Street spokesperson.
South Korea has said it would carefully review Mr Trump’s request, reports RTE.
Although some Iranian vessels have continued to pass and a limited number of ships from other countries have successfully crossed, the route has effectively been closed to most of the world’s tanker traffic since the United States and Israel launched attacks on Iran on 28 February, beginning an intensive bombing campaign that has struck thousands of targets nationwide.
Despite repeated statements from US officials claiming Iran’s military capabilities had been destroyed, drone attacks continued to pose a threat to Gulf states, reports RTE.
Dubai authorities said they had contained a fire but temporarily suspended flights at the airport, a major international hub, after a drone attack hit a fuel tank.
Saudi Arabia intercepted 34 drones in its eastern region in one hour, state media said, reports RTE.
No injuries were reported in either incident.
US officials responding to economic uncertainty caused by rising oil prices predicted yesterday that the war with Iran would end within weeks and that energy costs would subsequently fall, despite Iran’s insistence that it remains “stable and strong” and prepared to defend itself, reports RTE.
Mr Trump, who threatened additional strikes on Iran’s main oil export hub Kharg Island over the weekend, has previously said that Iran wants to negotiate.
But Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi yesterday disputed that claim, reports RTE.
“We have never asked for a ceasefire, and we have never asked even for negotiations,” Mr Araghchi told CBS’ Face the Nation programme.
“We are ready to defend ourselves for as long as it takes,” he added, reports RTE.
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