American allies must “get a grip” and assist in efforts to open the Strait of Hormuz after the Islamic Republic of Iran closed it, US President Donald Trump asserted on Wednesday.
“US allies need to get a grip – step up and help open the Strait of Hormuz,” the president wrote on Truth Social, copying the title of an editorial from the New York Post shared in the post.
Trump has previously said “we don’t need help” from NATO countries in the fight against Iran, but that they “should have been there.”
Previously, in response to Trump's request for military support to open the waterway, several US allies said on Monday they had no plans to send ships to assist in the effort.
Germany, Spain, and Italy were among the American allies that, for the time being, ruled out participating in any mission in the Gulf.
Meanwhile, Japan is reportedly considering Trump’s call for countries to send warships to escort oil tankers.
US strikes Iranian sites near Strait of Hormuz
In one of its latest actions in the region, the US military said on Tuesday that it had targeted Iranian sites near the strait, saying Iranian anti-ship missiles posed a risk to international shipping there.
The US “employed multiple 5,000-pound deep penetrator munitions on hardened Iranian missile sites along Iran’s coastline near the Strait of Hormuz," CENTCOM posted on X/Twitter at the time.
Meanwhile, Trump is weighing military action to seize control of the strait to ensure freedom of navigation, a move that a source told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday could significantly prolong the war “by weeks, if not months.”
Reuters and Amichai Stein contributed to this report.