#Trump said he will “soon” announce countries that have agreed to help the #US reopen the #StraitOfHormuz, as he criticised his many #allies, including #NATO and the #UK, that have so far declined to get involved. He told reporters in the Oval Office that #SouthKorea, #Japan, and #China, should be helping the US. He warned that NATO faced a “very bad” future if it didn’t help and said he was “not happy” with the #UK.
Meanwhile, allies responded by saying “this is not NATO’s #war”, with the #EU insisting it has “no appetite” to expand its naval mission to the Strait of Hormuz.
#German chancellor Friedrich Merz earlier said this war “is not a matter for NATO”, while NATO said “#allies have already stepped up to provide additional security in the #Mediterranean”.
The UK prime minister #KeirStarmer had earlier resisted Trump’s call to send #warships to the strait, saying the UK “will not be drawn into a wider war” but was working “with allies” on a plan to reopen the strait.
Trump also said the war would be “wrapped up” soon, saying it wouldn’t be this week but “it won’t be long”. He also suggested he would delay his upcoming trip to #China, which was scheduled for the end of March, by “a month or so”. His administration has insisted that this was not to pressure Beijing to help reopen the strait of Hormuz.
US vice-president #JDVance deflected and attacked the media when he was asked if he supports Trump’s war on Iran, given his prior criticisms of open-ended US foreign #interventionism.
It followed US media reports that he had privately expressed scepticism and counselled Trump against striking Iran. Vance accused the media of trying to “drive a wedge” between him and his president, and repeated Trump’s claim that #Tehran was close to developing a nuclear weapon. “I trust President Trump to get the job done,” he said.
Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi denied recent contact with US special envoy #SteveWitkoff, and said their last contact was prior to the US attack on Iran. He wrote on X: “My last contact with Mr. Witkoff was prior to his employer’s decision to kill diplomacy with another #illegal military attack on Iran. Any claim to the contrary appears geared solely to mislead oil traders and the public.” It followed an Axios report that a direct communications channel between Witkoff and Araghchi had been reactivated in recent days, with Araghchi attempting to engage with Witkoff about ending the war.
#uspol #auspol #TrumpRegime #EpsteinWars #RussianOil #AgentKrasnov #Iran