Trump increases pressure on allies over strait of Hormuz

Japan has said it will not send warships “at the moment” to help reopen the strait of Hormuz, after Donald Trump urged countries to join a “team effort” to protect vessels from Iranian strikes.

The strait has been all but closed since the start of the war, raising global energy supply fears, and the US president repeatedly pressed countries at the weekend to help secure this weekend, reports The Guardian.

Trump specifically named China, the UK, Japan, France and South Korea – and earlier warned that Nato faced a “very bad” future if its members failed to step up.

Japan’s defence minister Shinjiro Koizumi told the country’s parliament:

In the current Iran situation, we are not at the moment considering issuing a maritime security operation.

In the UK, ministers are drawing up plans to send minesweeping drones to the strait, my colleague Kiran Stacey reported earlier, amid concerns in Whitehall that complying with Trump’s demand to send ships could escalate the crisis.

Australia has also confirmed it will not send ships. “We know how incredibly important that is, but that’s not something we’ve been asked, or we’re contributing to,” transport minister Catherine King told the national broadcaster ABC.