US doesn’t need help from allies on Iran, Trump says

President Donald Trump said Tuesday that US forces “no longer need” military help in the Iran war, after his calls for assistance from allies to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to oil traffic were largely rebuffed.

The American president has spent recent days griping about how world powers have so far declined to send warships to escort tankers through the narrow waterway in and out of the Gulf and key to the transit of crude.

With the war in its third week, Trump has repeatedly stressed that US and Israeli air strikes have decimated Iran’s leadership, military facilities, and weapons manufacturing capacity.

The United States has been informed by most of our NATO ‘Allies’ that they don’t want to get involved with our Military Operation against the Terrorist Regime of Iran, in the Middle East,” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform.

“Because of the fact that we have had such Military Success, we no longer ‘need,’ or desire, the NATO Countries’ assistance — WE NEVER DID! Likewise, Japan, Australia, or South Korea,” Trump said, adding: “WE DO NOT NEED THE HELP OF ANYONE!”

Speaking of allies who have rejected his call for assistance, the 79-year-old Republican said he is “not surprised by their action, however, because I always considered NATO, where we spend Hundreds of Billions of Dollars per year protecting these same Countries, to be a one way street.”

The US-Israeli war on Iran has expanded dramatically across the Middle East, with Iran targeting the energy facilities of its crude-producing neighbors.

Tehran has also attacked and threatened tankers transiting the Strait of Hormuz, all but closing the vital waterway through which one fifth of global crude oil passes.

French President Emmanuel Macron insisted Tuesday that his country would not participate in operations to open the Strait of Hormuz given the current context of air strikes and other military dangers, but once the situation becomes “calmer” it could participate in an “escort system” alongside other nations.

Britain has also waved off Washington’s request for assistance. But Trump on Monday suggested Paris and London would lend a hand to the United States in the operation, and said several other countries — without naming them — had responded favorably to his call.

AFP