JAKARTA - US President Donald Trump said the United States no longer needed the help of NATO member countries to secure the Strait of Hormuz amid the conflict with Iran.
"The United States has been told by most of our 'allies' in NATO that they do not want to be involved in our military operations against the Iranian regime," Trump said on Truth Social, Tuesday (17/3).
"Because of the military success we have achieved, we no longer need or want the assistance of NATO countries - we have never needed it," he said.
Previously, Trump asked China, France, Japan, South Korea, Britain, and other countries to send warships to the Strait of Hormuz to secure one of the world's most important shipping lanes for global oil trade.
Trump admitted that he was not sure that allies in NATO were willing to defend the US, unlike the US commitment to the defense alliance.
Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand earlier said her country was not aware of any request from the US for NATO countries to join operations against Iran or help maintain freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.
Shipping traffic in the Strait of Hormuz was almost halted after the US and Israel launched an attack on Iran on February 28, which killed civilians.
Iran then retaliated by attacking Israel and US military targets across the Middle East.
Iran's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Amir Saeid Iravani, said last week that Iran did not intend to close the Strait of Hormuz, but had the right to maintain security on the shipping lane.
Source: Sputnik/RIA Novosti
The English, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, and French versions are automatically generated by the AI. So there may still be inaccuracies in translating, please always see Indonesian as our main language. (system supported by DigitalSiber.id)
