‘Not our war’: Trump upset as US partners reject call for Hormuz warship escorts

WASHINGTON/TEL AVIV/DUBAI - Several US allies rebuffed Mr Donald Trump’s call on March 16 to send warships to escort shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, drawing criticism from the US president, who accused Western partners of ingratitude after decades of support.

The US-Israeli war on Iran is in its third week with no end in sight, largely shutting the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20 per cent of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas flow, raising energy prices and fears of inflation.

The conflict has already imposed economic costs on Us allies, who were not consulted before the airstrikes on Iran and who have endured months of harsh criticism and bellicose threats from Mr Trump since he returned to office.

A number of US partners including Germany, Spain and Italy said they had no immediate plans to send ships to help reopen the strategic waterway, which Iran has effectively shut with drones and naval mines.

“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, adding that Washington and Israel had not consulted Germany before launching the war.

Mr Trump, speaking at a news conference in Washington, said many countries had told him they were prepared to help, but voiced frustration with some long-standing allies hosting large numbers of US troops:

“Some are very enthusiastic about it, and some aren’t. Some are countries that we’ve helped for many, many years. We’ve protected them from horrible outside sources, and they weren’t that enthusiastic. And the level of enthusiasm matters to me.”

Israel still has ‘thousands’ of targets in Iran

Israel said on March 16 it had drawn up detailed operational plans for the next three weeks as it pounded sites across Iran overnight, while Iranian drone attacks temporarily shut Dubai airport and hit a key oil facility in the United Arab Emirates.

Israel troops pushed into new parts of southern Lebanon, part of an expanding operation after Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel in retaliation for the killing of Iran’s supreme leader.

In a joint statement, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Britain warned that any “significant Israeli ground offensive would have devastating humanitarian consequences and could lead to a protracted conflict”, and that such an operation “must be averted”.

Israel has said it wants to weaken Iran’s capacity to threaten it, striking ballistic missile infrastructure, nuclear facilities and the security apparatus, and that it still has thousands of targets to hit.

“We want to make sure that they are as weak as possible, this regime, and that we degrade all their capabilities, all parts and all wings of their security establishment,” Israeli military spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani said.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it would target US industrial facilities in the Middle East and urged people living near US-owned plants to leave.

Iran also responded to Mr Trump’s threat that he might attack oil facilities on Kharg Island, the country’s main oil hub, if Tehran does not reopen the Strait of Hormuz. US forces destroyed military targets on Kharg on March 13.

A spokesperson for the armed forces, Abolfazl Shekarchi, said Iran would target oil and gas facilities in any country from which US attacks were launched on Kharg Island.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran had not asked for a ceasefire or exchanged messages with the US, according to Iran’s semi-official Student News Network.

In a post on X, Mr Araghchi also said that some “neighbouring states” that host US forces and permit attacks on Iran were also actively encouraging the killing of Iranians.

He said 200 children were among the hundreds of Iranian civilians killed in US or Israeli bombings.

Rescue workers in Tehran worked to pull people from the wreckage of a building in what an Iranian Red Crescent aid worker said was an entirely residential alleyway.

Israel claims strikes on Iran’s space programme

Israel said its air force had also struck sites linked to Iran’s space program, including destroying a research facility in Tehran involved in developing a satellite launched in 2024.

One Tehran resident told Reuters that there had been no internet overnight and Iranians felt isolated from the world.

“People are being killed,” Shahnaz, 62, said via WhatsApp. “Just days before Nowruz (Iranian New Year, on March 20), but people are not in the mood to celebrate. When will this end?”

Asked if she supported the Islamic Republic, Shahnaz said: “No, I don’t. How can I? They killed my granddaughter in (January’s) protests. We want this regime to go. We want this misery to end.”

In Tel Aviv in Israel, air raid sirens warned of Iranian missiles. The IRGC said Iran had launched attacks on areas in Tel Aviv, the US al-Dhafra air base in Abu Dhabi, the US naval base in Bahrain, and Bahrain’s Sheikh Issa air base.

On the UAE’s coast along the Gulf of Oman, oil loading operations at the port of Fujairah partially resumed after an Iranian drone strike. Fujairah is a key exit point for the UAE’s Murban crude – a volume equivalent to roughly 1 per cent of global demand.

Flights at Dubai International Airport, one of the world’s busiest, were suspended for several hours after a drone strike on a nearby fuel storage facility sent plumes of black smoke into the sky. Saudi Arabia intercepted 34 drones in its eastern region in one hour, state media said. No injuries were reported in either incident.

Despite the turbulence, oil prices, which had been above US$100 (S$128) a barrel, fell and stocks rallied after US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC the US was “fine” to let some Iranian fuel vessels through the strait, and believed Indian and Chinese tankers had also passed through. REUTERS