With oil markets reeling from supply disruptions caused by the war between the United States and Israel and Iran, US President Donald Trump has called on a naval coalition to send warships to secure the Strait of Hormuz, through which one-fifth of the world’s crude oil shipments pass.
Oil prices have soared to more than $100 a barrel after Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz in response to attacks by the United States and Israel.
Iran’s new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei has vowed to keep the sea artery closed, while another senior official in Tehran warned that oil prices could soar above $200 a barrel.
President Trump said he hoped the naval coalition would be able to secure the vital waterway connecting the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea. Iran has attacked more than a dozen ships attempting to navigate the narrow waterway since the fighting began two weeks ago.
But will Trump’s solution work?
What did Trump say?
The US president faces domestic pressure for starting a joint war with Israel with no end game or exit in sight.
“In the Strait of Hormuz, they had no plan,” US Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy wrote in a post on X. “I cannot go into further detail about how Iran is blocking the strait, but suffice it to say that at this point they do not know how to safely reopen it.”
After threatening to bomb Iran further, President Trump called on China, France, Japan, South Korea and the United Kingdom to send warships to secure the strait.
Trump claimed that “100% of Iran’s military capabilities” had already been destroyed, but added that Iran could still “send a drone or two somewhere in or into this waterway, drop mines, or fire short-range missiles.”
“I hope that China, France, Japan, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and others affected by this artificial constraint will send ships to the region so that the Strait of Hormuz does not become a threat to completely beheaded nations,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform.
“Meanwhile, the United States will continue to heavily bomb the coastline and shoot Iranian boats and ships from the water. In any case, we will soon make the Strait of Hormuz open, safe, and free!”
Shortly thereafter, Trump returned to his keyboard and called on “every country in the world that receives oil through the Strait of Hormuz” to send warships, adding that the United States would provide “tremendous” assistance to participating nations.
What did Iran say?
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy Commander Alireza Tansiri said in a statement that U.S. claims about destroying the Iranian navy and safely escorting oil tankers are false.
“The Strait of Hormuz is not militarily closed, it is simply under control,” he said in a statement.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi later emphasized this further, saying the strait remained open to international navigation except for vessels from the United States and its allies.
“The Strait of Hormuz is open. It is closed only to tankers and ships of our enemies and those attacking us and our allies. Others have free passage,” Araghchi said.
Khamenei, the son of the late supreme leader Ali Khamenei, who was killed on the first day of the US-Israeli attack, suggested in his first statement since taking office that he would keep the Strait of Hormuz closed to give Iran leverage during the conflict.
What are the challenges of the Strait of Hormuz?
The strait is just 21 nautical miles (39 km) wide at its narrowest point and is the only sea route into the Arabian Gulf (known in Iran as the Persian Gulf). Waterways are even narrower and more vulnerable to attack.
This separates Iran from Oman on one side and the United Arab Emirates on the other side.
Simply put, when the Strait of Hormuz is closed, no one can enter or exit by sea.
Alexandre Hudisteanu, a maritime security expert who spent 13 years in the Romanian Navy, told Al Jazeera that “interoperability is the biggest hurdle” in a coalition like the one Trump is hinting at.
“This is Cruise’s ability to cooperate and work with different forces and different principles when basic communication is an issue,” he said.
Add to that the geography of the Strait of Hormuz: “It’s a very difficult environment to navigate with this kind of wartime threat,” Hudisteanu said. “It is especially difficult under missile threats and asymmetric potential mines and unmanned systems that can damage or destroy ships.”
Escorting ships would be an expensive option, would pose risks to participating foreign warships from a possible attack on Iran, and would likely draw more countries into the ongoing war.
From Iran’s perspective, “the fact that the coastline is so close and the actual sea routes are so congested and restricted is an inherent advantage,” Hudisteanu added. Geographically, Iran holds it as a gauntlet, with ships unable to escape unless Tehran allows it.
Another major challenge for the naval coalition seeking to secure the sea route will be the operational schedule. “Security of the Straits can be achieved, it just takes how much time and how much assets are needed,” the analyst said. Rushing through it “could have a negative impact on mission and regional security.”
How did countries react?
So far, no country has publicly agreed to President Trump’s call to send warships to secure the Strait of Hormuz.
London said it was “intensively considering” what it could do to restart maritime traffic. British Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said: “Reopening the Channel is so important that we are looking intensively with our allies to see what we can do.”
Chinese Foreign Ministry officials said Beijing called for a cessation of hostilities and that “all parties have a responsibility to ensure stable and unhindered energy supplies.”
Japan said the threshold for sending warships on such missions is “extremely high.” “Legally speaking, I don’t rule out that possibility, but given the current situation in which this conflict continues, I think it’s something that we have to consider with great care,” said Takayuki Kobayashi, chairman of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party policy research group.
France also confirmed that it would not send ships. “The position remains unchanged. It is a defensive position,” the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Saturday, referring to President Emmanuel Macron’s insistence that France would not take part in the war against Iran.
South Korea, which imports 70% of its crude oil from the Gulf, said it was “closely monitoring” Trump’s remarks and “comprehensively reviewing and considering various measures to ensure the safety of energy transportation routes.”
Are countries negotiating with Iran?
Some countries are negotiating with Iran to secure transit for oil shipments.
Two Indian-flagged tankers carrying liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) sailed through the Strait of Hormuz. New Delhi relies on this route for 80% of its LPG imports.
Due to the war with Iran, 333 million Indian households are facing an acute shortage of cooking gas. New Delhi has long-standing ties to Iran, but Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has not condemned Khamenei’s killing. He condemned Iran’s retaliatory attacks on the Gulf country, where millions of Indian citizens work and send $51 billion home each year.
Mohammad Fatali, Iran’s ambassador to India, said Tehran had allowed some Indian ships to pass through the Strait of Hormuz in a rare exception to the blockade, but did not confirm the number of vessels.
Similar permission was granted to Turkish-owned ships last week after the Turkish government held direct passage negotiations with Tehran. Another 14 Turkish vessels are awaiting permission.
France and Italy have also reportedly begun talks with Iranian officials to negotiate a deal that would allow their ships to pass through the strait, but there has been no official confirmation yet.
“Iran is influencing maritime supplies,” Hudisteanu said. “It impacts regional maritime security and the entire ecosystem, and engulfs the entire world as global prices for oil and gas rise.”
