Trump pressured allies to show ‘greater enthusiasm’ for Hormuz security efforts

President Donald Trump on Monday urged his allies to play a more active role in securing the strategic Strait of Hormuz, and criticized what he described as a weak response from Western partners to US-led efforts aimed at protecting shipping through the vital waterway.

The call comes as several European countries refuse to launch a mission under the banner of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to reopen the strait, which was closed by Iran during the ongoing Middle East conflict.

Trump said he was disappointed by the limited response to Washington’s request to deploy allied navies to escort oil tankers through the route, which normally carry about a fifth of the world’s crude supply.

The conflict has pushed global oil prices up between 40 and 50 percent after Iran began targeting ships in the strait and launched missile and drone attacks in the Gulf in retaliation for the war launched by the United States and Israel on February 28.

Trump said he expected Britain and France would eventually take part, although he suggested their involvement might not be very enthusiastic.

“We strongly encourage other countries to engage with us and engage quickly and with great enthusiasm,” Trump told reporters at an event at the White House.

“The level of enthusiasm is important to me.”

However, some NATO members and Western partners distanced themselves from the proposal. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said London was working with its allies on what he described as a “viable” plan to reopen the strait but ruled out a NATO-led military mission.

Germany also emphasized its position by emphasizing that the conflict should not involve the alliance.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said, “the question of how Germany can contribute militarily does not arise. We will not do it.”

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Other countries—including Japan, Australia, Poland, Spain, Greece and Sweden—have also indicated that they will not take part in military operations in the strait.

European Union foreign ministers met in Brussels on Monday to discuss the escalating conflict but showed no “willingness” to expand the bloc’s naval mission in the Red Sea to the Strait of Hormuz, according to the EU’s chief diplomat.

Trump had previously warned in an interview with the Financial Times that it would be “very bad for the future of NATO” if its allies refused to participate, and he also threatened to postpone a planned summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Meanwhile, tensions continue to rise across the region. Explosions were reported in Tehran on Monday when the air defense system was activated, according to an AFP journalist. Israel said it also targeted the cities of Shiraz and Tabriz.

Despite the attacks, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi struck a defiant tone when speaking to journalists in Tehran.

“Now they have… understood what kind of country they are facing, a country that does not hesitate to defend itself and is ready to continue the war in whatever direction it takes, and to take action as far as necessary,” Abbas Araghchi told reporters in Tehran.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps also warned that it could target US companies operating in the region and advised their employees to evacuate.

The conflict has spread to parts of the Gulf region. A drone strike sparked a fuel tank fire near Dubai International Airport, disrupting flights, while a missile strike killed civilians in a car in Abu Dhabi. Another drone sparked a fire near an oil facility in the eastern emirate of Fujairah.

“The past few weeks it was difficult to hear the explosions regularly, but the Iranian attacks followed me in my final hours before I could fly back home,” a witness at Dubai airport told AFP.

The UAE’s state energy company, the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, temporarily halted oil transfers to storage tanks in Fujairah, although prices later fell after the International Energy Agency signaled that additional strategic reserves could be released.

A tanker from Pakistan successfully passed through the Strait of Hormuz on Monday with its tracking system active, suggesting it may have found safe passage.

Elsewhere in the conflict, Israel announced it had begun a “limited ground operation” against the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group in southern Lebanon.

The Israeli military said the operation “aims to increase the forward defense area” and targets “main Hezbollah strongholds” along the border.

Lebanon was drawn into the war on March 2 after Hezbollah launched an attack on Israel following the assassination of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

Lebanese authorities say Israeli attacks have killed 886 people since the conflict spread, while more than a million residents have been forced to flee.

In neighboring Iraq, strikes near the border with Syria killed six fighters belonging to the former Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary coalition, according to the alliance.