United States President Donald Trump has warned that the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) faces a severely damaged future if member states refuse to deploy naval assets to the Strait of Hormuz, but major allies including Germany, the United Kingdom, Japan and Australia rejected his appeal on Monday, leaving the world’s most critical oil shipping lane effectively paralysed as the Iran war entered its third week.
Vessel traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, which handles roughly one fifth of the world’s daily oil and Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) supply, has effectively come to a standstill since Iran began restricting passage after the United States and Israel launched strikes on Iranian targets on February 28. Daily oil exports from eight major Gulf producers dropped 61 percent in the week to March 15 compared with February, according to shipping data firm Kpler.
Oil prices hovered around $100 per barrel on Monday, with US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures at $99.32 and global benchmark Brent crude at $104.84, their highest levels in four years. Domestic US gasoline prices have risen 24 percent since the war began.
Trump began pressing allies on Saturday, naming China, France, Japan, South Korea and the United Kingdom specifically, and then escalated the demand over the weekend during an interview with the Financial Times. “It’s only appropriate that people who are the beneficiaries of the strait will help to make sure that nothing bad happens there,” he said. “If there’s no response or if it’s a negative response, I think it will be very bad for the future of NATO.”
Germany’s response was the most direct rejection. A spokesperson for Chancellor Friedrich Merz said the war had nothing to do with NATO and that participation had not been considered at any point. Defence Minister Boris Pistorius dismissed the request further, asking what a handful of European frigates could do in the Strait of Hormuz that the powerful US Navy could not.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Britain was working with European partners to put together a viable plan to restore freedom of navigation but drew a firm line, telling reporters that London would not be drawn into the wider war. Italy’s Foreign Minister said naval missions in the region should not be expanded to include the strait, and Ireland ruled out any involvement entirely. Australia said it had not been asked to contribute and had no plans to send ships.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) naval commander said claims about the US destroying Iran’s navy or providing safe escort for tankers were false, and that the strait was not militarily blocked but was under Iranian control. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi later clarified that the waterway remained open to shipping from countries not aligned with the United States or Israel. Iran’s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has suggested the closure will persist as leverage in the conflict.
Trump said on Monday that some unnamed countries had agreed to help and that he would soon announce who they were. He also confirmed his planned visit to China for talks with President Xi Jinping would be delayed by roughly a month, saying he could not leave Washington while the war was ongoing.
The economic consequences of the maritime closure are spreading across Africa. For countries including Ghana, the sustained surge in Brent crude and jet fuel costs is already translating into higher prices for imported goods, transport and household essentials, compounding inflationary pressures that predate the conflict.
