BRUSSELS: European countries on Monday sought more details about US President Donald Trump\u2019s plans for the war on Iran and warned that NATO must not become involved in it, as they weighed whether to agree to his call to send warships to help shore up security in the Arabian Gulf.<\/p>\n
The cool response to Trump\u2019s demand reflects wide caution about the US-Israeli war among allies kept in the dark before, and largely since, it was launched on Feb. 28.<\/p>\n
Trump has asked partners \u2014 including France, China, Japan, South Korea and Britain \u2014 to help secure the Strait of Hormuz for global shipping. He said the United States was talking to \u201cabout seven\u201d countries, but he wouldn\u2019t say which ones and gave no indication of when such a coalition might be formed.<\/p>\n
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer insisted Britain \u201cwill not be drawn into the wider war,\u201d and said British troops should only be sent into action that is legal and has \u201ca proper thought-through plan.\u201d But his country is considering other forms of help in conjunction with allies.<\/p>\n
In an interview with the Financial Times, Trump also warned that \u201cif there\u2019s no response or if it\u2019s a negative response, I think it will be very bad for the future of NATO.\u201d<\/p>\n
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that \u201cNATO is a defensive alliance, not an interventionist one. And that is precisely why NATO has no business being involved here.\u201d He said he hopes that NATO allies \u201cwill treat one another with the necessary respect within the alliance.\u201d<\/p>\n
Merz agreed that \u201cthis Iranian regime must come to an end,\u201d but he said that \u201cbased on all the experience we have gained in previous years and decades, bombing it into submission is, in all likelihood, not the right approach.\u201d<\/p>\n
EU debates Trump\u2019s demand<\/p>\n
Many are keen to know when the war will end.<\/p>\n
At a meeting in Brussels, where European Union foreign ministers gathered to discuss Trump\u2019s demand, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said it\u2019s important for the US and Israel to define \u201cwhen they consider the military aims of their deployment to have been reached.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need more clarity here,\u201d Wadephul told reporters.<\/p>\n
Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna also said that US allies in Europe want to understand Trump\u2019s \u201cstrategic goals. What will be the plan?\u201d<\/p>\n
Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski invited the Trump administration to go through the proper channels.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf there is a request via NATO, we will of course out of respect and sympathy for our American allies consider it very carefully,\u201d he said. Sikorski made a reference to Article 4 of NATO\u2019s founding treaty, which allies can invoke if they believe their territory or security is under threat.<\/p>\n
Acting in Europe\u2019s interests<\/p>\n
Still, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said that \u201cit is in our interest to keep the Strait of Hormuz open.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kallas had urged the 27 member countries to expand the EU\u2019s Operation Aspides naval mission to protect shipping in the Red Sea up into the Arabian Gulf. But after chairing the meeting, she said there had been \u201cno appetite\u201d to boost its mandate.<\/p>\n
But Kallas said the EU would closely monitor threats to maritime security also in the Red Sea, where Aspides operates with three warships. \u201cThe risk that the Houthis get involved is real. So we must remain vigilant,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Yemen\u2019s Iran-backed Houthi rebels have so far remained on the sidelines of the war even as it has spread across the Middle East, raising questions about why, and perhaps when, the battle-hardened group might join the fight.<\/p>\n
It was not immediately clear whether some European countries might go it alone and form a \u201ccoalition of the willing\u201d to provide military support on an ad hoc basis.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is not a NATO issue,\u201d retired Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges, former commanding general of the US Army in Europe. \u201cIt\u2019s up to individual nations who are also members of NATO to decide if they want to deploy capabilities to secure the Strait of Hormuz,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
In an interview with The Associated Press, he said most European leaders will view the war with Iran as \u201ca war of choice by the United States,\u201d and leaders, including Britain\u2019s Starmer, may think \u201cwhy should the Royal Navy have to come participate.\u201d That said, he noted that European nations have an interest in keeping oil and gas flowing through the strait.<\/p>\n
The war in Iran has driven up energy prices worldwide, with Brent crude up more than 40 percent. The conflict has also disrupted the wider global supply chain beyond oil, affecting things like pharmaceuticals from India, semiconductors from Asia and oil-derived products like fertilizers that come from the Middle East.<\/p>\n
Cargo ships are stuck in the Gulf or making a much longer detour around the southern tip of Africa. Planes carrying air cargo out of the Middle East are grounded. And the longer the war drags on, the more likely that there will be shortages and price increases on a wide range of goods.<\/p>\n
France has said it is working with countries \u2014 French President Emmanuel Macron mentioned partners in Europe, India and Asia \u2014 on a possible mission to escort ships through the strait but has stressed it must be when \u201cthe circumstances permit,\u201d when fighting has subsided.<\/p>\n
French senior officials, speaking anonymously on ongoing talks, said the Netherlands, Italy and Greece had shown interest and that Spain might be involved in some way.<\/p>\n
Starmer said Britain is discussing with the US and allies in Europe and the Gulf the possibility of using its mine-hunting drones already in the region.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
BRUSSELS: European countries on Monday sought more details about US President Donald Trump\u2019s plans for the war on Iran and warned that NATO must not become involved in it, as they weighed whether to agree to his call to send warships to help shore up security in the Arabian Gulf. The cool response to Trump\u2019s …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":95198,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-95177","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95177","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95177"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95177\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":95199,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95177\/revisions\/95199"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/95198"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95177"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95177"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95177"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}