The United States' NATO allies said on Monday they would not get involved in US President Donald Trump's plan to blockade the Strait of Hormuz, further ratcheting up tensions within the increasingly fragile alliance. Trump said the US military would work with other countries to block all maritime traffic in the waterway, after weekend talks failed to reach an agreement to end the six-week conflict with Iran. The US military later specified that the blockade, due to start at 17:00 p.m. on Monday, would only apply to ships going to or from Iranian ports.
"The Blockade will begin shortly. Other Countries will be involved with this Blockade," Trump said in a post on Truth Social on Sunday. But NATO allies, including Britain and France, said they would not be drawn into the conflict by taking part in the blockade, saying instead that it was vital to open the waterway through which one-fifth of the world's oil usually passes, which Iran has effectively closed since the conflict began on February 28.
Their refusal to participate is yet another point of friction with Trump, who has threatened to withdraw from the military alliance and is weighing pulling some US troops from Europe after several countries resisted supporting the US campaign against Iran by denying US military planes use of their airspace. "We're not supporting the blockade," British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told the BBC." My decision has been very clearly that whatever the pressure, and there's been some considerable pressure, we're not getting dragged into the war," he said. (Read More)
