Major allies of the United States are refusing to answer President Donald Trump’s desperate pleas for help in his war on Iran.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he would not be sending warships to help the U.S. reopen the Strait of Hormuz after Trump, 79, called for allied reinforcements, The Telegraph reported on Sunday.
The nation’s energy minister, Ed Miliband, said the British government was looking at “any options” to help restart shipping in the region, but that the country’s position relied on a de-escalation of fighting as the “best and simplest way.”
An Australian government official also said that the country would not send any of its naval ships to assist at the Strait of Hormuz, Reuters reported on Sunday evening.
The two American allies are the only countries other than the U.S. to have combat-ready Tomahawk cruise missiles.
Other allies, including France, Japan, and South Korea, have signaled similar reluctance.
Iran closed off the Strait of Hormuz, the only sea passage connecting the Persian Gulf to the open ocean, on March 2. Since then, the crucial trade corridor’s daily shipping traffic has shrunk tremendously, with its typical average of 60 ships per day dwindling to only two, according to hormuzstraitmonitor.com.
Americans have felt the war at home at the pump, as the average price for a gallon of gas has shot up to $3.70, over 22 percent higher than it was a month ago at $2.94.
On Saturday, the president took to Truth Social to request aid from other nations to reopen the critical passageway, claiming that America has already “beaten and completely decimated Iran.”
“We have already destroyed 100% of Iran’s Military capability, but it’s easy for them to send a drone or two, drop a mine, or deliver a close range missile somewhere along, or in, this Waterway, no matter how badly defeated they are,“ Trump wrote.
“Hopefully China, France, Japan, South Korea, the UK, and others, that are affected by this artificial constraint, will send Ships to the area so that the Hormuz Strait will no longer be a threat by a Nation that has been totally decapitated.”
Though France’s government has not yet responded publicly, an official account for the nation’s foreign office clarified on X on Saturday that the nation would not send the ships Trump requested.
“No. The [French] aircraft carrier strike group remains in the Eastern Mediterranean. France’s posture is unchanged: Defensive. Protective,” the diplomatic outlet wrote, responding to claims that the country was sending ships to the Middle East. “Stop the scaremongering.”
Since U.S. and Israeli forces began strikes on Iran late last month, 13 American service members have been killed as a result of the conflict.
Over 1,400 people have been killed, and over 18,000 have been injured in Iran, according to the latest figures from Al Jazeera.
The Daily Beast reached out to the White House for comment.
