Six U.S. allies have issued a strongly worded statement condemning Iran’s attack on commercial vessels but stopped short of agreeing to follow President Donald Trump into war.
In a joint statement, the United Kingdom, Italy, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Japan said they were supportive of Trump’s wishes to find a coalition to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, but did not commit to sending any military equipment to help in that effort.
“We call on Iran to cease immediately its threats, laying of mines, drone and missile attacks and other attempts to block the Strait to commercial shipping,” the allies wrote.
The statement said they were ready “to contribute to appropriate efforts to ensure safe passage through the Strait” and start “preparatory planning.”
The Trump administration has been pushing for a coalition to find a safe passage for cargo ships to pass through the Strait of Hormuz.
The closure of the Strait has been one of the worst crises for the White House since it started the war in Iran. The Strait has become Tehran’s strongest point of leverage as the country has effectively blocked cargo ships from passing through it.
The U.K., alongside NATO Secretary General Marc Rutte, had been leading the effort among Western countries to get them on board with signing a political statement expressing support for the coalition, Axios reported.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz had been skeptical of the premise, and French President Emmanuel Macron was originally outright opposed to forming such a coalition, except as part of an agreement with Iran when the war ends.
Rutte and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer spoke with Macron and convinced him to join them, and Japan joined at the last minute, according to the report.
Axios reported that many other countries did not want to join.
France, Germany, Italy, and Japan have publicly said they are not willing to send military might to aid Trump in his effort to reopen the Strait. The U.K. has sent two naval vessels to the region to be ready if needed.
Trump has gone back and forth with his demands for U.S. allies to help him with the war.
On Saturday, he said he hoped U.S. allies were being negatively impacted by his war, so that they would send their own military might to the effort.
“Hopefully China, France, Japan, South Korea, the UK, and others, that are affected by this artificial constraint, will send Ships to the area so that the Hormuz Strait will no longer be a threat by a Nation that has been totally decapitated,” he said, before threatening that “in the meantime, the United States will be bombing the hell out of the shoreline, and continually shooting Iranian Boats and Ships out of the water.”
When those countries did not send anything to help the U.S., Trump walked back his demands and ranted on Truth Social, saying, “WE DO NOT NEED THE HELP OF ANYONE!”
“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, despite explicitly asking for their help just three days earlier.
The president had been warned several times before launching his war that Iran would close the Strait of Hormuz, but he repeatedly ignored those warnings.
Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told Trump multiple times that Iran would send missiles and drones to close the Strait. Trump acknowledged the risks, the Wall Street Journal reported, but moved forward with the deadly war anyway.
At least 13 U.S. troops have died in Trump’s war, and more than 1,300 Iranians have been killed, including 175 Iranian schoolgirls in what appears to have been an attack on the school by U.S. forces.
