NATO, EU Allies Reject Trump’s Demand to Help Open Strait of Hormuz
• S’Africa rebuffs US pressure to distance itself from Iran
•Iran hits key UAE oil port, Dubai airport
Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja
The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) and European countries yesterday ruled out sending warships to the strait of Hormuz, despite threats from Donald Trump that NATO faces “a very bad future” if members fail to help reopen the vital waterway.
Germany ruled out participation in any military activity, including efforts to reopen the strait. “There was never a joint decision on whether to intervene. That is why the question of how Germany might contribute militarily does not arise. We will not do so,” the Chancellor, Friedrich Merz, said.
He added: “This Iranian regime must come to an end,” but that “based on all the experience we have gained in previous years and decades, bombing it into submission is, in all likelihood, not the right approach.”
For his part, the country’s Defence Minister, Boris Pistorius, said: “This is not our war, we have not started it. What does Donald Trump expect from a handful of European frigates in the strait of Hormuz that the mighty US navy cannot manage alone? This is the question I find myself asking.”
Also, Keir Starmer said the UK would not be “drawn into the wider war” but was working on “a viable plan”. “Ultimately, we have to reopen the strait of Hormuz to ensure stability in the (oil) market. That is not a simple task,” said the prime minister. He did not rule out any form of action but said it would have to be agreed by as “many partners as possible”.
Besides, Italy’s Foreign Minister, Antonio Tajani, said on Monday that “diplomacy needs to prevail” and his country was involved in no naval missions that could be extended to the area. He cast doubt on expanding the remit of existing EU missions in the Red Sea to the strait of Hormuz, “since they are anti-piracy and defensive missions,” the Guardian UK reported.
The position taken by the three major European countries was striking because they had avoided criticising Trump over his decision, alongside Israel, to attack Iran 17 days ago. Soon after the first strikes, the US president said the goal of the military campaign was regime change, but the war has since become a wider regional conflict, causing energy prices to soar.
Australia, France and Japan have also said they had no plans to send warships.
But at a press conference on Monday, Trump repeated his call on allies to help reopen shipping in the strait, saying “some are very enthusiastic about it and some aren’t”. He reiterated he was “not happy with the UK”, but he thought it would be involved.
Trump had called on other countries to enter the war by sending ships to the strait to protect commercial vessels and unblock oil shipments.
Raising the pressure, he told the Financial Times: “It’s only appropriate that people who are the beneficiaries of the strait will help to make sure that nothing bad happens there. If there’s no response or if it’s a negative response, I think it will be very bad for the future of NATO.”
EU foreign ministers meeting on Monday decided against extending the remit of their small naval mission in the Red Sea. A proposal to change the mandate of Operation Aspides to help secure the strait drew little enthusiasm from member states, said the EU’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas.
“There was in our discussions a clear wish to strengthen this operation, but for the time being there was no appetite in changing the mandate,” Kallas said.
European ministers have said they need to know more about the US’s and Israel’s war aims. The Estonian foreign minister, Margus Tsahkna, said US allies in Europe wanted to understand Trump’s “strategic goals. What will be the plan?”
Greece, which provides the headquarters for Operation Aspides, also said on Monday it would not engage in any military operations in the strait.
S’Africa: No Reason to Cut Ties with Iran
South Africa has no reason to cut ties with Iran, its Director General of Foreign Affairs, Zane Dangor said, after the new US ambassador was quoted as saying the country’s association with the Islamic Republic was an impediment to good relations with Washington.
In an interview with Reuters, Dangor also rejected some other Trump administration demands, such as dropping South Africa’s genocide case against Israel, scrapping Black empowerment laws or accepting a refugee programme for whites.
Dangor was speaking against the backdrop of the US and Israeli war on Iran, a conflict placing increased strains on governments navigating relationships with Tehran, and a sharp deterioration in Pretoria’s ties with the US during President Donald Trump’s second term.
In August Trump imposed a 30 per cent tariff on imports from South Africa, a move that could cause tens of thousands of job losses at a time when a third of South Africans are out of work.
“We have not any reason to cut ties with Iran,” Dangor said, but he added: “we are not absolutely uncritical of Iran,” noting that President Cyril Ramaphosa’s government had admonished the republic for its crackdown on protesters in January, and for attacking neighbours in the latest war with the United States.
“(But) we cannot be pulled into the sort of sphere of influence politics that great powers want to pull us into, and that in this instance includes the US,” he said.
In his first media interview, new US Ambassador Leo Bozell was quoted by News24 as saying “an association with Iran is an impediment to good relations with the United States.”
“You (the United States) have a particular relationship with Iran … that many in the developing world (do not) have,” Dangor said.
South Africa’s relationship with the US has been at a low since Trump accused its Black majority government of persecuting its white minority, repeating false claims about land seizures from white farmers circulating on far-right chat rooms.
Iran Hits Key UAE Oil Port, Dubai Airport
The United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) biggest port and oil storage facility, Fujairah, and Dubai’s international airport have come under further drone attacks as Iran continues to target Gulf transport and oil infrastructure.
Flights were temporarily suspended on Monday after a fire broke out near the airport after a “drone-related incident”. A fire also raged after a drone attack on the strategically important port and industrial zone at Fujairah, one of the largest oil storage facilities in the region.
And a rocket attack on a car killed a Palestinian national on the outskirts of the UAE capital, Abu Dhabi, the city’s Media Office reported. The attack occurred in the Al Bahia area, it said.
UAE air defence systems intercepted six ballistic missiles and 21 drones on Monday, the Defence Ministry said. Iran has launched over 1,900 missiles and drones at the UAE since the war between the US and Israel, and Iran, began.
Monday’s drone strike was the third incident since the start of the war near Dubai’s airport, which is the world’s busiest for international passengers. Some flights were delayed, while others were cancelled altogether, in another hit to the UAE’s image of safety and stability.
The country’s energy sector came under attack as a drone hit an oil storage tanker on Saturday, and another drone hit the oil facilities on Monday, causing a fire. Oil loading activities at the port were halted for a time while damage assessments were carried out.
Fujairah sits on the UAE’s eastern coast, on the Gulf of Oman – rather than the Persian Gulf – and so vessels do not need to navigate the Strait of Hormuz to reach it.
The location means the port plays a “crucial” role in “helping keep global supplies moving” when the Strait of Hormuz is blocked by Iran, Dubai-based Justin Harper, editor of CEO Middle East – who regularly speaks to Dubai’s oil industry executives – told the BBC.
“If tensions with Iran disrupt the chokepoint, the UAE can still export oil through Fujairah via pipelines from the oilfields in Abu Dhabi,” he said.
Iran hitting a storage tanker and oil facilities at Fujairah “shows the vulnerability of Gulf infrastructure”, Stanley told the BBC.
NATO Allies Reject Trump’s Demand for Help
Besides, NATO allies have cast doubt over the alliance’s role in reopening the Strait of Hormuz in a fresh blow to Donald Trump.
The US president had called for “about seven” countries to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz, warning NATO that the bloc faces a “very bad future” if allies refuse to help the US open up the maritime chokepoint, which has been under Iranian control since the war began.
German chancellor Friedrich Merz’ spokesperson said “This war has nothing to do with NATO. It’s not NATO’s war,” per Politico, echoing doubt from the foreign minister and defence minister.
The UK has also expressed an unwillingness to involve NATO, with Sir Keir Starmer saying that it “won’t be and it’s never been envisioned to be a NATO mission.” Meanwhile, Greece has refused any military involvement in the Persian waterway and Italy has called for diplomacy to prevail.
The price of oil reached the one of the highest peaks since July 2022 on Monday, peaking at $104 per barrel as the fuel costs continue to soar.
Israel Plans for at Least Three More Weeks of War
Israel said yesterday it had detailed plans for at least three more weeks of war as it pounded sites across Iran overnight, while Iranian drone attacks temporarily shut Dubai airport and hit a key oil facility in the United Arab Emirates.
The US-Israeli war on Iran is now entering its third week with no clear end in sight, largely shutting the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20 per cent of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas flow, pushing up energy prices and raising fears of a spike in global inflation.
Israeli military spokesperson Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani told reporters there were detailed operational plans for the war with Iran for the next three weeks, and other plans extending further ahead.
Israel has said it wants to weaken Iran’s capacity to threaten it, striking ballistic missile infrastructure, nuclear facilities and the security apparatus, and that it still has thousands of targets to hit.
“We want to make sure that they are as weak as possible, this regime, and that we degrade all their capabilities, all parts and all wings of their security establishment,” Shoshani said.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi for his part said Tehran had not asked for a ceasefire or exchanged messages with the US, according to Iran’s semi-official Student News Network.
In a post on X, Araqchi also said that some “neighbouring states” that host US forces and permit attacks on Iran were also actively encouraging the killing of Iranians. “Stances should be promptly clarified,” he said.
