New Delhi/Berlin, March 17 (UNI) Several allies seem to be shying away from President Donald Trump’s call for patrolling the Strait of Hormuz.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz was among those who indicated late Monday that his country may not join such a patrol.
“We lack the mandate from the United Nations, the European union or NATO required under the Basic Law,” German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said in Berlin. He also added that Washington and Israel had not consulted Germany before launching the war.
Earlier, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Monday that Britain is working with allies on a plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz but will not be drawn into the wider war.
Speaking at a press conference, Prime Minister Starmer said Britain is discussing with the US and allies in Europe and the Gulf the possibility of using mine-hunting drones that the UK has in the region.
However, he indicated that the UK is unlikely to dispatch a warship.
Two more key allies of the US, Japan and Australia, had also indicated on Monday that they may not be willing to deploy naval ships to patrol the contested Strait of Hormuz, after US President Donald Trump revealed that the USA is talking with seven nations dependent on Gulf oil to assist in protecting shipping in the narrow but strategic sea corridor.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump had said on Sunday that several governments had been approached to help safeguard commercial vessels passing through the narrow waterway.
Trump, however, did not name the countries, though on Saturday in a social media post he had said that he hopes countries like “China, Japan, South Korea and the UK and others that are affected by this artificial constraint, will send ships” to patrol the crucial straits.
“I’m demanding that these countries come in and protect their own territory because it is their territory,” Trump had told reporters, adding that they should collaborate as “they get their energy” from the region.
