Middle East crisis live: European countries resist Trump’s demand for help to clear the strait of Hormuz
"European countries, including Italy, Germany, the UK, and Greece, are resisting US President Trump’s call for assistance in clearing the Strait of Hormuz, fearing involvement in the escalating US-Israeli conflict with Iran. Despite Trump’s warning that non-cooperation could harm NATO, these nations are cautious about being drawn into the conflict. Meanwhile, Iran claims the strait is only blocked for US, Israeli, and allied vessels, while a non-Iranian oil tanker successfully transited the waterway.
Italy, Germany, UK and Greece react cautiously after Trump threatens failure to do assist would be ‘very bad for the future of Nato’
Summary of the day so far...
It has just gone past 4.30pm in Tehran, and 3pm in Tel Aviv and Beirut. Here is a quick recap of events:
European countries have resisted Donald Trump’s demand for help to clear the strait of Hormuz, seemingly reluctant to get dragged into the escalating US-Israeli war on Iran.
It comes after Donald Trump called on the UK, China, France, Japan, South Korea and other countries to send ships to the world’s busiest shipping route, which has been effectively blockaded by Iran.
The US president said it would be “very bad for the future of Nato” if allies don’t help secure the strait.
Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi, however, told reporters that the strait is only cut off for vessels of the US, Israel and their allies.
A oil tanker appears to have cleared the strait of Hormuz and is now sailing to Pakistan, a country Iran has thanked for the “solidarity” it has shown in the face of ongoing US-Israeli attacks.
A fire broke out on Monday after a drone attack on an industrial oil facility in the UAE’s Fujairah, officials said.
Israel’s military said it had launched a broad wave of strikes on the Iranian cities of Tehran, Shiraz and Tabriz.
The Israeli army said it had begun what it described as “limited ground operations” against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon – but IDF attacks in Lebanon have killed many civilians and have hit residential neighbourhoods.
Debris from an intercepted projectile fell across several cities near Tel Aviv – including Shoham, Rishon LeZion, Lod and Ness Ziona – though authorities reported no casualties
The Lebanese health ministry said 850 people have been killed in Israeli attacks since 2 March, when Israel started striking Lebanon following Hezbollah’s firing of rockets towards the country.
Iranian drone attacks temporarily shut Dubai airport and hit a key oil facility in the UAE.
Israel’s military said on Monday that it had launched a “wide-scale wave of strikes targeting infrastructure” in the Iranian cities of Tehran, Shiraz and Tabriz, marking a further escalation in the intensifying confrontation between the two regional powers.
Explosions were reported in the Iranian capital just hours after Israel said it had carried out extensive overnight operations. Blasts echoed across central Tehran as air defence systems were activated, according to local media reports, suggesting coordinated strikes aimed at strategic sites across the country.
The Israeli military also claimed that overnight strikes had destroyed an aircraft used by Iran’s late supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, at Tehran’s Mehrabad airport. According to Israeli officials, the plane had been used by senior Iranian political and military figures for domestic and international travel, as well as for coordination with allied states.
Israeli military spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani told reporters that there are detailed operational plans for the war with Iran in place for the next three weeks, along with additional plans extending further ahead.
“We want to make sure that they are as weak as possible, this regime, and that we degrade all their capabilities, all parts and all wings of their security establishment,” Shoshani said.
European countries resist Trump's request to help clear the strait of Hormuz
Italy is the latest European country (after the UK, Germany and Greece) to react cautiously to Donald Trump’s demand that allies help open the strait of Hormuz.
Italy’s foreign minister, Antonio Tajani, told reporters in Brussels that Italy backs reinforcing EU naval missions in the Red Sea.
But he added: “However, I don’t think these missions can be expanded to include the strait of Hormuz, especially since they are anti-piracy and defensive missions.”
Luxembourg’s deputy prime minister Xavier Bettel said his country would not give in to “blackmail” from the US to join the war, saying: “With satellites, with communications, we are very happy to be useful. But don’t ask us with troops and with machines.”
Trump’s call for countries, including France and the UK to send warships to help unblock the strait have been met with a cool response despite governments around the world being hit by surging energy prices.
Any military involvement would see such countries being dragged into the escalating war, which was launched by the US and Israel illegally, according to many legal experts.
Aside from its widespread economic toll and grave consequences for regional stability, the war has already had a devastating human cost with a high civilian death toll in both Iran and Lebanonfrom US-Israeli airstrikes.
Trump had suggested allies could contribute naval assets such as minesweepers – vessels Europe has more of than America. But European governments have so far resisted the president’s pressure, although this is a fast-moving situation so divergence could happen.
As we mentioned in a previous post, the EU’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas has called for a diplomatic effort to get oil and gas through the strait of Hormuz modelled on an initiative that enabled Ukraine to export its grain to the world.
Non-Iranian oil tanker transits strait of Hormuz , monitor says
A non-Iranian oil tanker transited the strait of Hormuz despite major disruption to shipping in the crucial waterway, monitor Marine Traffic said earlier today.
“The Aframax tanker Karachi, carrying Abu Dhabi’s Das crude, has become the first non-Iranian cargo to transit the choke point while broadcasting its AIS signal, suggesting that select shipments may be receiving negotiated safe passage,” the monitor said.
The Karachi, controlled by Pakistan’s National Shipping Corp., made the dangerous journey on Sunday, according to shipping data analysed by Bloomberg, which reported that the Pakistan-flagged tanker was spotted in the waters off Oman’s Sohar this morning.
At least sixteen tankers have been attacked in the strait of Hormuz since the war started on 28 February and Iran has threatened to lay explosive mines in the waterway.
But the Iranian foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, told reporters earlier that the strait was only cut off for vessels of the US, Israel and their allies. In a social media post this morning, he thanked the government and people of Pakistan for their solidarity with – and support for – Iran in the face of ongoing US-Israeli attacks.
Starmer says UK 'will not be drawn into wider war'
Speaking at a press conference in Downing Street, the UK’s prime minister, Keir Starmer, said he has been clear in his objectives about the war, which has entered its third week. Starmer said:
First, we will protect our people in the region.
Second, while taking the necessary action 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 and stops the Iranian threat to its neighbours.
Starmer told journalists he is working with allies on a plan to reopen the strait of Hormuz, having resisted Donald Trump’s demands to send Royal Navy warships to help secure the vital shipping route. He said the UK was working with countries, including European allies, on a “viable plan” to reopen the strait. You can read more in our UK politics live blog.
The EU’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas has called for a diplomatic effort to get oil and gas through the strait of Hormuz modelled on an initiative that enabled Ukraine to export its grain to the world, as the EU weighs options to keep open the vital waterway.
Kallas also warned of food shortages next year as a result of fertiliser shortages if the strait remains closed. Around one-third of global seaborne trade in fertilisers passes through the strait, according to the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
Speaking to reporters Kallas said she held talks during the weekend with UN secretary general António Guterres whether it was possible to replicate the Black Sea grain initiative for the strait of Hormuz.
The Black Sea Grain deal, negotiated in June 2022, ensured Ukraine, one of the breadbaskets of the world, could export grain from its southern ports, despite the ongoing war.
Kallas said the closure of the strait of Hormuz was really dangerous for energy supplies to Asia, but also risked reducing supply of fertilisers, adding: “If there is lack of fertilisers this year there’s going to be also food deprivation next year.”
She was speaking ahead of talks with EU foreign ministers on Monday, where she said the main topic would be how to keep the strait of Hormuz open, reflecting conversations that began before Donald Trump urged allies to send warships to the region.
EU leaders last week expressed openness to extending existing naval missions in the region, notably Operations Aspides, which was set up in 2024 to protect commercial vessels in the Red Sea and the Gulf, from attacks by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels on international shipping.
While France has announced it will send two frigates to boost Aspides, Germany has said it is sceptical about extending its mission to the strait of Hormuz. Germany foreign minister Johann Wadephul described the existing mission to help commercial shipments pass through the Red Sea as “not effective”.
Kallas said member states would discuss whether to change the mandate of Operation Aspides. She also mentioned talks to set up an ad-hoc “coalition of the willing”, but said it could be easiest to use the existing operation in the region.
Acknowledging scepticism from Germany, Kallas said member states needed to be on board: “If the member states say that we are not doing anything with this then of course it’s their decision but we have to discuss how we help to keep the strait of Hormuz open.”
Iran 'prepared to continue the war wherever it is', foreign minister says
In a statement shared to Telegram this morning, Abbas Araghchi said:
That we say we don’t want a ceasefire is not because we want war, but because this time this war must end in a way that our enemies will never think of repeating these attacks and this aggression again.
I think they have learned a good lesson by now and realised what kind of nation they are dealing with, one that has no hesitation in defending itself and is prepared to continue the war wherever it is and to take it wherever it is.
Iran says strait of Hormuz is closed only to US, Israel and their allies
Also speaking at a press conference in Tehran, Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi told reporters that the strait of Hormuz is only cut off for vessels of the US, Israel and their allies.
“From our perspective it is open,” he said. “It is only closed to our enemies, to those who carried out unjust aggression against our country and to their allies.”
His comments come after the US president, Donald Trump, said it would be “very bad for the future of Nato” if allies don’t help secure the strait of Hormuz for global oil shipping. No countries have yet committed to sending warships.
Germany said this morning that the US-Israeli war with Iran has nothing to do with the Nato alliance and said Berlin would not help keep the strait open through military means, probably summing up the mood felt by a lot of European officials.
Iran foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei has been speaking at a press conference. He said:
The situation surrounding the strait of Hormuz in Iran has always been critical, and the security of ships passing through this strait has been a major concern.
The incidents we have witnessed in recent days are a direct result of the imposed war by the United States and the occupying regime on the region.
As a coastal nation, we have the right to ensure the security of our region and to prevent the misuse by aggressors and occupiers of this waterway for their aggressive actions.
This is the right of the Islamic Republic based on international law, and it applies regionally as well.
Just as we are determined to prevent the misuse of this waterway by aggressors, we are also addressing issues concerning ships that do not belong to these aggressors or their affiliates, while still ensuring safety and carrying out necessary actions.
Greece will not engage in military operations in the strait of Hormuz, spokesperson says
The Reuters news agency has quoted Greece’s government spokesperson as saying his country will not engage in any military operations in the strait of Hormuz.
It comes after Donald Trump called on the UK, China, France, Japan, South Korea and other countries to send ships to the world’s busiest shipping route, which is being effectively blockaded by Iran.
But the response to the call has been largely reluctant with countries issuing non-committal statements saying dialogue is ongoing and that they are working with allies, but, crucially for Trump, not agreeing to dispatch any assets into the incredibly dangerous strait.
Iran has attacked ships and reportedly started to lay mines in the strait, in effect closing it to marine traffic, leading to a huge rise in global oil prices. Last year, about 20m barrels of oil passed through the strait each day."
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