No country publicly agreed on Sunday to send naval forces to help secure the Strait of Hormuz after President Donald Trump urged major powers to deploy warships to keep the crucial waterway “open and safe” amid soaring oil prices linked to the ongoing war with Iran.
U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Washington has been communicating with several nations about the issue but did not identify which governments were involved. Speaking to NBC, Wright said he expects China to play a positive role in reopening the shipping lane through which roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil exports typically move.
Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, also spoke to NBC and said Tehran has already been contacted by several governments seeking safe passage for their ships. “Iran has been ‘approached by a number of countries’ seeking safe passage for their vessels,” he said, adding that “this is up to our military to decide.” Araghchi noted that a group of vessels from “different countries” had already been allowed to transit the waterway, though he did not offer additional details.
Iran has maintained that the strait remains open to most nations but not to the United States or countries aligned with it.
Araghchi also dismissed the idea of negotiations with Washington to bring the war to a close. “We don’t see any reason why we should talk with Americans” about ending the conflict, he said, arguing that the fighting began when Israel and the United States launched coordinated attacks on Feb. 28 during indirect U.S.-Iran discussions. Those talks had been centered on Iran’s nuclear program, and Araghchi added that Tehran had “no plan to recover” enriched uranium buried beneath rubble after U.S. and Israeli strikes last year.
British Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said Western governments are exploring options to reopen the strait but acknowledged that the conflict itself remains the central obstacle. “We are intensively looking with our allies at what can be done, because it’s so important that we get the strait reopened,” Miliband told Sky News, adding that ending the war is the “best and surest” way to do it.
South Korea’s Foreign Ministry responded cautiously to Trump’s request, saying it is monitoring the situation closely and coordinating with Washington. Officials said Seoul “takes note” of Trump’s call and that it “will closely coordinate and carefully review” the situation with the U.S.
Attention has also turned to Japan, where there is speculation that Trump may request naval assistance during an upcoming meeting with Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi at the White House later this week.
China did not immediately respond publicly to the call for assistance.
France has previously indicated it is discussing a possible multinational escort mission for commercial vessels passing through the strait. President Emmanuel Macron said the effort could involve partners in Europe, India, and other Asian countries, though French officials stressed that such an operation could only proceed when “the circumstances permit,” meaning once the fighting has subsided.
Meanwhile, the International Energy Agency announced Sunday that emergency oil reserves will soon begin entering global markets in an effort to stabilize prices. The organization described the coordinated release of reserves as the largest ever undertaken.
The agency updated an earlier figure of 400 million barrels to nearly 412 million barrels. Asian member states are expected to release supplies immediately, while stockpiles held in Europe and the Americas are scheduled to begin reaching markets at the end of March.
At the same time, tensions across the Persian Gulf escalated as several Arab countries reported new missile and drone attacks. The strikes came a day after Iran warned residents to evacuate three major ports in the United Arab Emirates, marking the first time Tehran has directly threatened non-U.S. assets in a neighboring state. Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE said their air defense systems were working to intercept incoming projectiles.
Iran also accused the United States of launching Friday’s strike on Kharg Island — home to the country’s primary oil export terminal — from bases in the UAE, though it provided no evidence.
U.S. Central Command declined to comment on the allegation. Anwar Gargash, a diplomatic adviser to the UAE president, rejected the claim, and Gulf states hosting U.S. military bases reiterated that they have not allowed their territory or airspace to be used in attacks on Iran.
Iran’s joint military command warned that it could retaliate against what it described as U.S.-linked “oil, economic and energy infrastructures” throughout the region if its own oil facilities continue to come under attack.
Since the war began, Iran has launched hundreds of missiles and drones at the UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Oman. While many have been intercepted, the attacks have caused damage and unsettled regional economies. Tehran insists the strikes target American assets, although impacts have also been reported at civilian locations including airports and oil installations.
The war has already taken a heavy toll across the region. Iranian strikes have killed at least a dozen civilians in Gulf countries, most of them migrant workers.
Inside Iran, the International Committee of the Red Cross reported that more than 1,300 people have been killed. Iran’s Health Ministry said the casualties include 223 women and 202 children, according to Mizan, the judiciary’s official news agency.
In Israel, Iranian missile attacks have killed 12 people and wounded others, including three who were injured on Sunday. The conflict has also claimed the lives of at least 13 U.S. military personnel, including six who died in a plane crash in Iraq last week.
Lebanon has also suffered heavy casualties since the conflict expanded there. The country’s Health Ministry said at least 820 people have been killed since Iran-backed Hezbollah began launching attacks on Israel and Israel responded with airstrikes and additional troop deployments in southern Lebanon.
The fighting has also triggered a massive humanitarian crisis. Within just 10 days, more than 800,000 people — nearly one in seven residents of Lebanon — have been displaced, barely a year after a previous conflict forced over a million Lebanese from their homes.
In Beirut, displaced families were seen repairing tents battered by rain and wind. Fadi Younes, who fled the southern suburbs, said his living conditions had become extremely difficult after his bedding was soaked by the weather.
“We don’t know where this will end,” he said.
In the southern suburb of Haret Hreik, cleanup crews worked to remove rubble from largely deserted streets.
“The important thing is that the roads remain open for hospitals and for people,” excavator driver Hachem Fadlallah said.
Israel said its forces continued striking targets in Iran, while Iranian missiles continued to be launched toward Israel, sending residents rushing into shelters as warning sirens sounded.
Several of the strikes landed in central Israel and the Tel Aviv region, damaging 23 locations and igniting a small fire. Israel’s emergency service, Magen David Adom, released footage showing a large crater in a street and shrapnel damage to a nearby apartment building.
Multiple simultaneous impact sites have become increasingly common in the war, with Israel’s military saying Iran has begun using cluster munitions designed to evade certain air defense systems and disperse explosive fragments across wide areas.
{Matzav.com}
