Monday 16 / March / 2026
Dubai: Australia and Japan both said Monday they have no plans to send naval or maritime vessels to help secure the Strait of Hormuz, after US President Donald Trump demanded that a group of about seven countries support the US in protecting the strategic waterway.
"We have not made any decisions whatsoever about dispatching escort ships. We are continuing to examine what Japan can do independently and what can be done within the legal framework," Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi told parliament.
Australia's Minister Catherine King told national broadcaster ABC that, "We won't be sending a ship to the Strait of Hormuz. We know how incredibly important that is but that's not something we've been asked or we're contributing to."
Trump confirmed he made "demands" to a group of around seven countries to "come in and protect their own territory," referring to the strategic waterway.
While declining to name the countries his administration is negotiating with, Trump argued that those countries were heavily reliant on Middle East crude oil, while claiming that the US was not, due to its own oil supplies.
Earlier in the war, the Trump administration had floated plans to escort ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz to protect them against Iranian attacks.
However, those plans were later set aside as more of a longer-term plan due to the complex nature. Trump has since shifted to demanding that other countries take on the task of policing the waterway.
On Sunday, news website Axios reported that the president later this week hoped to announce a coalition of countries to reopen the strait.
Trump threatens NATO, China over reluctance to secure Hormuz shipping route: FT
US President Donald Trump's call for a number of countries to secure navigation through the strategic Strait of Hormuz, blocked by Iran since the joint US-Israeli attacks began, has largely gone unanswered.
On Sunday, the US president threatened consequences should support not materialize.
Trump told the Financial Times in a brief interview that the NATO military alliance could face a "very bad" future should US allies fail to help Washington reopen the strategic waterway.
The US president also threatened to delay his summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping, scheduled for later this month, as he pressures Beijing to help with securing traffic through Hormuz.
"It's only appropriate that people who are the beneficiaries of the Strait will help to make sure that nothing bad happens there," Trump told the newspaper.
The Strait of Hormuz lies between the Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea, and is critical for global oil supply. The near-blockade of the waterway has disrupted oil supplies and sent fuel prices soaring.
