European leaders, Japan offer to help Trump unblock Strait of Hormuz
Washington: European leaders and Japan say they are ready to help unblock the Strait of Hormuz after a week of pressure from US President Donald Trump and attacks on the Middle East’s energy infrastructure, made worse by rising oil prices.
In a joint statement on Thursday (Washington time), the leaders of the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Japan condemned Iran for its attacks on commercial shipping vessels and civilian energy facilities, as well as its virtual closure of a critical maritime transit.
“We call for an immediate comprehensive moratorium on attacks on civilian infrastructure, including oil and gas facilities,” the leaders said.
“We express our readiness to contribute to the efforts necessary to ensure safe passage through the Bosphorus. We welcome the determination of the nations engaged in preparation planning.”
Leaders did not provide details on what those efforts would entail. Trump had called on NATO allies and others to send warships to escort oil tankers through the strait; but these requests have so far been rejected.
The statement came as Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi visited Trump at the White House, the first leader of a major U.S. ally to meet with the president since the U.S. began requesting allied help to reopen the strait amid the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran.
Takaichi began with a frank assessment of the “very severe security environment” in the Middle East and the “huge blow” it has caused to the global economy.
“But despite these circumstances, I believe that only you, Donald, can ensure world-wide peace,” he said.
Positioning himself as a conduit between the United States and other allies, Takaichi said Japan is ready to engage with other countries to coordinate efforts to achieve common goals in the region. He added that Japan’s foreign minister directly appealed to his Iranian counterpart to stop the regime’s malicious actions in the strait.
Although details of any Japanese aid will still be discussed during the bilateral meeting, Trump said Japan is “really prepared, unlike NATO.”
Asked by a Japanese reporter why he did not inform his allies about the war in advance, Trump said he did not want to reveal his plans.
“We didn’t tell anyone about it because we wanted to.” [it to be a] surprise,” Trump said. “Who knows the surprise better than Japan? Why didn’t you tell me about Pearl Harbor? Right?”
The US president was not asked at the press conference about the latest statements by European leaders, and the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In retaliation for Israel’s attack on Iran’s massive South Pars natural gas field, the regime fired missiles and drones at energy facilities in Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, and hit a major Qatari liquefied natural gas facility.
Qatar’s state energy company said its Ras Laffan facility suffered serious damage in the attack. Iranian attacks eliminated 17 percent of Qatar’s LNG export capacity, causing an estimated US$20 billion ($28 billion) in lost value, the country’s Energy Minister Saad Sherida al-Kaabi told Reuters.
The attacks caused widespread concern, including in Australia, about the escalating conflict and its impact on world markets and consumer prices. The price of Brent crude, the global oil standard, briefly rose above $119 per barrel on Thursday.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, whom Trump harshly criticized for his reluctance to join the war, said he condemned Iran’s attacks in the strongest possible terms.
Starmer told
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese echoed those sentiments on Thursday. “We do not want to see the conflict escalate further,” he said.
Earlier, Trump distanced himself from Israel’s attack on Iran’s South Pars natural gas reserve, the world’s largest natural gas reserve, and vowed that Israel would not do it again unless Iran continued to retaliate.
However, these claims have been questioned by US media reports, which indicate that Washington was aware of and even supported the Israeli attack in advance.
On Thursday, Trump said he spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about attacks on oil and gas infrastructure.
“I told him not to do that, and he won’t do that. We’re independent, we get along very well, we coordinate, but occasionally he’ll do something and if I don’t like it… so we don’t do it anymore.”
Meanwhile, Iran’s foreign minister has promised that Iran will retaliate with “ZERO restrictions” if its infrastructure is hit again. Posting on X, Seyed Abbas Araghchi also said that in order to end the war, “the damage to our civilian areas must also be addressed.”
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Michael Koziol is the North America correspondent for The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald. He is a former Sydney editor, Sun-Herald deputy editor and a federal political correspondent in Canberra.Connect with: X or email.
