listen to this article5 minutes
information
US President Donald Trump said “many countries” would send warships to keep the Strait of Hormuz open, but gave no details about which countries were participating.
This comes as the waterway, which carries one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas, remains effectively closed 15 days into the US and Israel’s war against Iran.
Recommended stories
list of 3 itemsend of list
President Trump wrote in Truth Social on Saturday that “countries particularly affected by Iran’s attempted blockade of the Straits” will send warships “to work with the United States to keep the Straits open and secure,” naming China, France, Japan, South Korea and the United Kingdom among the countries he hopes will contribute.
In the post, Trump claimed that the United States had “already destroyed 100% of Iran’s military capabilities,” while simultaneously acknowledging that Iran could still “fly a drone or two, drop landmines, fire short-range missiles” along the waterway.
In the meantime, he pledged that the United States would “continue to heavily bomb the coastline and shoot Iranian boats and ships from the water,” and to keep the straits “open, safe and free.”
U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright told CNBC last week that the United States was not prepared to escort ships through the strait itself.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has clarified that the strait is closed only to “tankers and ships of the enemy and its allies” and not to all ships, but Mohsen Rezaee, a member of Iran’s influential Identification Council of Expediency close to the Supreme Leader, said “no American vessel has the right to enter the Gulf.”
Rajesh Kumar Sinha, special secretary of India’s Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, said two Indian-flagged tankers carrying liquefied petroleum gas safely passed through the strait on Saturday morning.
Iran’s ambassador to India, Mohammad Fatali, confirmed that the Iranian government had granted an unusual exemption to the Indian vessel following a direct meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Thursday.
Turkish-owned vessels were similarly granted passage earlier this week after the Turkish government held direct passage negotiations with Tehran, and a further 14 Turkish vessels are still awaiting permission.
The United States is strengthening its presence in the region by sending approximately 2,500 Marines and the amphibious assault ship Tripoli to the Middle East following a CENTCOM request approved by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.
Al Jazeera’s Kimberly Halkett, reporting from the White House, said Iran’s most powerful weapon remaining is economic, not military, adding that the threat of damage to U.S. ships alone has paralyzed the straits and supplies flowing through them.
“That’s why we see the president of the United States indicating that we need to expand this coalition,” Halkett said.
The closure also threatens global food security, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies. The strait is a key conduit for LNG exports, a key ingredient in nitrogen-based fertilizers used to grow staple grains and cereals that provide more than 40 percent of the world’s caloric intake.
India, facing a severe cooking gas shortage, has invoked emergency powers to protect the 333 million households that rely on LPG.
UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher warned that “millions of people are at risk” if humanitarian aid cannot pass safely through the strait.
Hegseth dismissed suggestions that the Pentagon was caught by surprise by Saturday’s closure of the strait. “We are dealing with this issue and there is no need to worry,” he said.
At least 1,444 people have been killed in Iran since the war began on February 28, the death toll is rising in Lebanon, and Gulf states face continued attacks from drones and missiles.
Andreas Krieg, head of the School of Security Studies at King’s College London, said the call to Al Jazeera by President Trump’s coalition was a “desperate move in an information campaign to calm the market.” Krieg said all Iran needed was an occasional attack to keep insurers away, and there was no quick military solution to reopening the strait.
“It doesn’t seem like they had any plans to close the Strait of Hormuz. It looks like a desperate move in an information campaign to calm the market. Some magic will happen and the strait will open before they actually engage with the Iranian regime.”
He said sending naval vessels without a diplomatic agreement would only expose “very expensive warships to very cheap but potentially very effective projectiles.”
