Name: Trump wants allies to send war ships to the Strait of Hormuz | DW News
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US President Donald Trump is pushing for allies in the war against Iran, urging nations to send warships to secure the Strait of Hormuz.

Now, the UK And France have sent some military to the region to protect countries being attacked by Iran, but

they are not escorting commercial vessels through the strait.

Meanwhile, Tehran says its fight is only with the US And Israel and nations hosting what it calls hostile forces.

Little or no movement on the Strait of Hormuz for another day as Iranian strikes whiz across the Gulf region.

But the US Wants to unblock the route with some help from their friends.

Writing on Truth Social, Donald Trump said countries of the world that receive oil through the Hormuz Strait must take care of that passage, and

The US Will also coordinate with those countries so that everything goes quickly, smoothly, and well.

This should have always been a team effort, and now it will be.

But Washington's allies aren't convinced and have shown no willingness to sign up to help the US And Israel in their war on Iran.

The UK And France have sent military to the Middle east, but

have stressed they are not taking part in the war.

Both London and Paris remain critical of the conflict, and

Iran remains defiant, making it clear whose ships can safely pass through the narrow waterway connecting the Persian Gulf with the rest of the world.

Speaking to US Media, Iran's Foreign Minister, Abbas Aranchi said the key transport route in the Persian Gulf remained open for international shipping, except for vessels belonging to the United States, Israel and their allies.

So with Tehran drawing a hard line on who gets passage and Washington struggling to garner support, the rest of the world looks on with growing fear this conflict could spot, spiral out of control and push prices up even further.

Right, so for more on this, let's bring in Alex Fatanka.

He is a founding director of the Iran Program at the Middle East Institute in Washington, D.C.

So Washington wants its allies to help secure shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

Look, it's too early to say because we have a couple of things to point out here.

One is the Iranian Foreign Minister, Abbasar Rokchy was just a few hours ago telling American television that the Strait of Hormuz is open.

There's no blanket closure, that only vessels that are linked to United States and Israel are not allowed to go through the Strait.

So, again, whatever that means, because, you know, companies that are linked to US And Israel could mean a lot, and

that maybe that vagueness, that uncertainty is exactly what Tehran is banking on.

But we've seen the Indians just today, I believe had some tankers go through.

So Iran is playing a selective game here as far as access to this trade is concerned.

I think they're thinking in terms of diplomatic gains they can have by working with some nations and not others.

But also I think very important for them is to make sure that they don't help create more of a global front against Iran.

So that's why I think they've been selective and they don't want to be seen as indiscriminate in terms of how they're closing the strait.

So if there is no support from allies, can the US And Israel fight this war alone or defend the Strait of Hormuz alone?

So look, there's no sign that US And Israel went into this war banking on support from allies, the Europeans or anybody else.

The question is why didn't plan for this more carefully before they actually attacked Iran.

And that's something that's been debated as of right now.

But I'll just point out historically, coalitions that have worked either in the Persian Gulf or in the Arabian Sea, places like Bab El Mandeb, when the Houthis were striking maritime traffic in the Red Sea, historically those coalitions have not really been that effective in providing full security for maritime traffic.

So again, you know, the United States has the biggest naval force.

It needs time to see if it can provide the type of security for maritime traffic through the strait.

But we've heard from senior American officials saying that could be an option, but

From Tehran's perspective, what would a strategic when actually look like in this conflict?

Look, the minimum they're hoping for is to survive this war.

And for them that would be a major, major achievement because again, the way they look at it is they're attacked by two nuclear armed countries with formidable military capability.

So for them, just survival would be a major strategic victory, if you will.

But in terms of if they could get more, some of the rhetoric coming from Tehran suggests that what they want is a new Middle east going forward.

And I think that's when they're engaging in more fantasy than reality.

I mean, some of the points we've heard, sort of concepts such as United States military bases having to leave the region, neighboring states like the Gulf countries need to kick out American militaries.

Again, this is more like wishful thinking as opposed to serious thinking on the part of Tehran.

But that's at least what the rhetoric is suggesting.

Surviving as a regime would be a strategic victory for the Islamic Republic.

And, you know, you've been in touch with a lot of people on the ground.

How is this war being received or perceived inside the country?

So, as you can imagine, Iranians are going through a rollercoaster emotions.

On the one hand, a majority of Iranians do not like the Islamic Republic, but

there had been a hope that any kind of foreign military intervention would result in a quick victory, if you will, and

And I would also say, clearly that's unlikely to happen in the short term.

It could happen in the medium to long term.

But in the next few days and weeks, the regime will be standing.

And now Iranians, ordinary Iranians who do not like the regime, have to basically defend or fend for themselves in the midst of a war that very few Iranians have ever experienced, anything like this.

I mean, the nearest thing that you can point to is the Iran Iraq War, which was nothing like this conflict, because now the city of Tehran, 10 million people, bombs are dropping, missiles are dropping.

So the capacity, the capacity to mobilize politically against the regime right now is not there simply because Iranians are just busy trying to survive this war.

And, you know, the outcome of this war, obviously, is something that they're watching very carefully.

But right now, the people of Iran don't seem to be in the driver's seat as far as the outcome of this war is concerned.

Right, Quick one on this, if you can, because, you know, the war is escalating, no doubt.

Do you see some sort of light at the end of the tunnel?

For some people, light at the end of the tunnel is regime change.

For other people, light at the tunnel is a quick ceasefire tomorrow so we can go back to normality.

So that's very much the subjective issue, but

I think most likely what we can expect is this war will continue for at least a few more weeks.

I think where we are right now, the President of the United States is the most important figure, has to make a decision together with the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu.

And we know the Israelis want regime change.

The question is, can the Israelis convince Trump to stay in this war for more than weeks, perhaps months.

That's a big question that we need to wait for and see the answer to, right?

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