President Trump calls on other countries to help re-open the Strait of Hormuz

The Israeli-American war against Iran is in its third week. In addition to human casualties, the war has also had a dramatic effect on the global economy. Iran has closed the Strait of Hormuz driving oil prices higher.

In a seemingly incoherent move, US President Donald Trump claimed that Israel and America have already won the war against Iran, while simultaneously calling on other countries to help re-open and police the Strait of Hormuz: "It's the place from which they get their energy, and they should come and they should help us protect it. You could make the case that maybe we shouldn't even be there at all, because we don't need it, we have a lot of oil. We're the number one producer anywhere in the world times two."

Apparently uninterested in explaining how the world’s most powerful navy was unable to re-open the strait, President Trump said it would be detrimental for the future of NATO if the allies do not help secure the critical waterway. However, his call for international support has not been well received by many key allies, from Australia and Japan, to Germany and the United Kingdom, with the latter two joining a number of other countries in refusing to participate in a wider war. The Defense Minister of the Federal Republic of Germany Boris Pistorius: "We are ready to ensure safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz diplomatically. However, there will be no military participation. We stand by our commitments and we are fulfilling our allied tasks, particularly around NATO's eastern flank and in the high north."

"We will protect our people in the region. Second, while taking the necessary measures to defend ourselves and our allies, we will not be drawn into the wider war. And third, we will keep working towards a swift resolution that brings security and stability back to the region," added the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Keir Starmer.

Meanwhile, Iran says it has no interest in re-opening the strait. The Spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Esmaeil Baghaei: "Both America and the Zionist regime, and all their allies, in principle should not be able to use the Strait of Hormuz to attack Iran. This is a matter of logic and is recognized by international law."

The Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Abbas Araghchi, added that Tehran is also not interested a ceasefire agreement: "We are not asking for a ceasefire, but this war must end in a way that ensures that it will not happen again."

The situation in the Middle-East was also discussed in Brussels at the meeting of the ministers of foreign affairs of the European Union. Also discussed was the war in Ukraine and the EU's latest package of sanctions against Russia. Croatian Foreign and European Affairs Minister Gordan Grlić Radman who called out member states who are blocking the bloc’s latest round of sanctions against Russia: "Every attempt to block the new sanctions package only serves Russia's interests. Precisely when we have another ongoing conflict in the Middle-East. Which is why it is important to focus and help Ukraine."

Source: HRT