The Callisto oil tanker sits anchored in Port Sultan Qaboos, in Muscat, Oman, on March 12.

Trump Says US Doesn't Know If Iran Leader Is Alive, Calls For Support On Strait Of Hormuz

15 Mar 2026, 23:35 by RFE/RL · Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty · Join

US President Donald Trump questioned whether Iran's new supreme leader is alive and pressed Washington's call for help securing shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, which Tehran has effectively shut down with attacks on vessels and threats of more.

Trump's comments at a White House event on March 16 underscored the uncertainties that persist in the Middle East and beyond more than two weeks after the United States and Israel began a massive campaign of air strikes against Iran.

"We don't know...if he's dead or not. I will say that nobody has seen him, ⁠which is unusual," Trump said of Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, whose selection to replace his father, killed on the first day of US-Israeli bombardment, was announced on March 9.

The younger Khamenei, 56, has not appeared in public, and US defense chief Pete Hegseth said last week that he was believed to have been wounded in the strikes.

"A lot of people are saying that he's badly disfigured. They're saying that he lost his leg...and he's been hurt very badly," Trump said. "Other people are saying ‌he's dead."

Trump also asserted that Iran had expressed interest in negotiations, but suggested the country's leadership remains disorganized amid strikes he said have hit more than 7,000 targets across Iran, destroyed more than 100 of its naval vessels, and significantly reduced its ability to launch missiles and drones since February 28.

"We don't know who their leader is," Trump said. "We have people wanting to negotiate. We have no idea ‌who they are."

Trump, who had said in a social media post a day earlier that "many countries" would be sending warships to help restore shipping in Strait of Hormuz, said on March 16: "Some countries have already started to get there.

"It takes a little while to travel an ocean, but we have some that are really enthusiastic," he said, without naming any country. "Some are less than enthusiastic, and I assume some will not do it."

Iran has responded to the attacks by using attacks and the threat of more to hamper shipping in the strait, virtually halting passage into and out of the Persian Gulf through a bottleneck that normally handles about one-fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas.

Blockage of the strait has crimped supplies, sending oil prices higher and compounding concerns about the war's effects on the economy -- both globally and at the gas pump, where prices have also climbed higher.

Trump said he had spoken with French President Emmanuel Macron about forming a coalition to secure the strait, describing Macron's response as "an eight on a scale of zero to 10" and expressing confidence that France would assist.

He criticized Britain's reluctance to provide support and said he was "not happy" with Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who had said he wanted a "viable" option to reopen the strait. But Trump also said he believes the United Kingdom will participate.

A day earlier, he said that "hopefully" China, France, Japan, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and "others" would join. But the response on March 16, however, was somewhat muted.

Britain and Denmark appeared open to helping aid shipping in the Middle East, though with caveats on not being drawn into the broader conflict the United States and Israel are waging against Tehran.

"We are working with others to come up with a credible plan for the Strait of Hormuz to ensure that we can reopen shipping and passage through the strait," British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said.

The Wall Street Journal on March 15, citing unnamed US officials, reported the Trump administration may announce, as soon as this week, that multiple countries have agreed to form a coalition for escorting ships through the crucial waterway.

The report said the matter is still being discussed and that the mission could shift depending on battlefield conditions. It also said potential participants were debating when such a mission would begin -- during hostilities or only after a cease-fire.

European Union foreign ministers displayed no desire to expand an EU naval mission in the Middle East to the Strait of Hormuz, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said after discussions on March 16. The mission, which involves a just a few vessels was set up in 2024 to protect ships from attacks by Yemen's Houthi rebels in the Red Sea.

Ministers conveyed "a clear wish to strengthen this operation, but for the time being, there was no appetite in changing the mandate of the operation," Kallas said.

"While the Strait of Hormuz is at the center stage, the Red Sea ‌also remains critical," she said.

Germany, Greece, and Italy, meanwhile, appeared to rule out participation altogether.

"What does Trump expect from a handful of European frigates that the powerful US Navy cannot do? This is not our war; we have not started it," German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said.

In an interview published on March 16 by The Financial Times, Trump said NATO faces a "very bad future" if member nations do not help the United States in Iran.

"It's only appropriate that ‌people who are the beneficiaries of ⁠the strait ‌will help to make sure that nothing bad happens there," the FT quoted Trump as saying.

The Wall Street Journal also reported US oil executives had warned administration officials that the energy crisis caused by the Iran war is likely to worsen.

In a series of White House meetings and talks with Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, the CEOs of ExxonMobil, Chevron, and ConocoPhillips said disruptions to shipping in the strait "would continue to create volatility in global energy markets," the paper said, citing people familiar with the matter.

Should military forces begin escorting ships through the strait while hostilities were still under way, it would mark a dangerous new phase in the US-Israeli war on Iran.

Tehran has fired back at US Arab allies in the region and could target foreign navies in the strait, even though Trump and other US officials have said Iran's navy has been destroyed during the US-Israeli air strikes.

Despite being pounded by US and Israeli air power, Iran has remained defiant, launching missiles and drones against Israel and US Arab allies in the region.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi on March 15 disputed Trump's claim that Tehran was seeking to negotiate with Washington. Trump said he was not ready for talks because Tehran's "terms were not good enough."

"We have never asked for a cease-fire, and we have never asked even for negotiations," Araqchi told CBS TV. "We are ready to defend ourselves for as long as it takes."

At the United Nations on March 16, Iran vowed that it would not submit to "lawless aggression."

"The most urgent and fundamental human rights issue concerning Iran is the imminent threat to the lives of 90 million people whose lives are in immediate and grave danger under the shadow of reckless military aggression," said Ali Bahreini, Iran's ambassador to the UN in Geneva.

Trump Says US Doesn't Know If Iran Leader Is Alive, Calls For Support On Strait Of Hormuz