US asks allies to pitch plans within days to secure Hormuz
The closing of the strait has sent global energy prices soaring and raised concerns about imminent fuel shortages
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[BRUSSELS] The US wants specific commitments from European allies regarding their pledge to help secure the Strait of Hormuz, requesting that the countries present concrete plans to ensure navigation through the waterway within days, according to a senior Nato official.
The request was presented during discussions between American and Nato officials at the White House, where US President Donald Trump met with Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte, as well as at the Pentagon and State Department, according to the official.
The White House, the Defence Department and the State Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment late Wednesday night.
A UK-led coalition of more than 40 countries, which includes many European nations, Japan and Canada, has pledged to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz, through which about 20 per cent of the world’s oil and natural gas flows, after active combat in the Middle East stops. The closing of the strait has sent global energy prices soaring and raised concerns about imminent fuel shortages.
Trump, Iran and Israel announced a fragile, 14-day ceasefire agreement on Tuesday, contingent upon the cessation of attacks and the reopening of the strategic waterway. About a dozen mostly European leaders issued a statement following the accord promising they would “contribute to ensuring freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz”.
However, strikes from Iran and Israel have continued and the Strait of Hormuz has remained effectively closed since the announcement. Teheran has said Israel’s attacks on the Iran-aligned Hezbollah militia in Lebanon constitute a violation of the ceasefire agreement.
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That raises questions about whether the latest request from the US will spur members of the Hormuz coalition to present plans quickly and whether they consider the US timeline of a few days realistic.
Assistance from Nato members – or lack thereof – in the Iran conflict has led to acrimony between Trump and allies in recent weeks. Some member states declined to let the US use military bases to carry out strikes on Iran and refused the American president’s calls to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz as long as fighting was ongoing.
Following the meeting with Rutte on Wednesday, Trump posted on social media that “Nato wasn’t there when we needed them, and they won’t be there if we need them again”.
Often referred to as the “Trump Whisperer”, Rutte has frequently been dispatched to ease tensions between Washington and the military alliance during moments of crisis, including when Trump was pressing member states to escalate defence spending and earlier this year when he threatened to seize the Danish territory of Greenland.
The Iran war, though, may pose the biggest test yet for Rutte. While Trump has long criticised Nato, questioning its relevance and countries’ willingness to shoulder the costs of collective security, he’s demonstrated increasing hostility towards the military alliance in recent weeks, deriding member states as “cowards” and the alliance as a “paper tiger”.
In a recent interview with the UK’s Telegraph, Trump said that he was considering pulling the US out of Nato altogether. During a press conference on Monday, Trump revisited his grievances with the organisation over Greenland that he wants for the US, suggesting that rift had never healed.
Trump administration officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and US Nato Ambassador Matthew Whitaker, have said member states must do more to demonstrate their value to the US, indicating that Washington would rethink its relationship.
Rutte met Rubio earlier Wednesday, and they discussed Iran, efforts to end Russia’s war in Ukraine, as well as “increasing coordination and burden shifting with Nato Allies”, according to the State Department.
Vice-President JD Vance is slated to lead a US delegation to Islamabad to hold direct talks with Iran on Saturday. BLOOMBERG
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