US President Donald Trump has warned NATO countries that they face a "very bad future" if they do not support the US in the war with Iran, the British newspaper "Financial Times" headlines, BTA reported.
Trump directly threatened that NATO faces a "very bad future" if US allies do not help open the Strait of Hormuz, thus sending a categorical message to European countries to join his military actions in Iran.
The American president said yesterday in an interview with "Financial Times" that he may even postpone his summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping later this month, as he insists that Beijing help unblock this key waterway.
"It is natural for the people who benefit from the strait to help ensure that nothing bad happens there," Trump said, noting that Europe and China are heavily dependent on oil from the Gulf, unlike the United States.
"If there is no response or if the response is negative, I think it would be very bad for the future of NATO," he added.
Trump made the comments in a phone call to the "Financial Times" a day after he called on China, France, Japan, South Korea and Britain to join a "joint effort" to open the strait, through which a fifth of the world's oil trade passes.
Iran has effectively closed the strait since the United States and Israel launched their war on it more than two weeks ago, raising fears of a new surge in oil prices. US efforts to open the waterway have largely failed. International oil prices hit $106 a barrel last night, up about 45 percent since the war began.
Despite his warning, Trump appeared pessimistic that US allies would heed his pleas for help.
"We have something called NATO", said Trump, who has often criticized the alliance, adding: "We were very kind. We didn't have to help them with Ukraine. Ukraine is thousands of miles away from us (...) But we helped them. Now we'll see if they're going to help us. Because I've been saying for a long time that we'll be there for them, but they're not going to be there for us. And I'm not sure they're going to be there for us".
Asked to specify what kind of help he needed, Trump replied: "Any kind of help". He added that allies should send minesweepers, of which Europe has much more than the US, notes the "Financial Times".
The conflict has thrown the Middle East into chaos, disrupted global air transport and disrupted oil exports from the region, which has led to a surge in fuel prices around the world, notes another British publication - the "Guardian".
Neither Tehran nor Washington seem inclined to soften their rhetoric despite the rising death toll and the surge in oil prices after the de facto closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
"Iran wants to make a deal, but I don't want to because the conditions are not good enough yet," Trump said, adding that US troops would step up attacks on the Iranian coast north of the strait to clear the way for the shipment of oil.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, however, disputed this claim yesterday. "We have never wanted a ceasefire and we have never even wanted negotiations", Araghchi said on CBS. "We are ready to defend ourselves as long as necessary", he added.
Araghchi described the Israeli strikes on oil depots in Tehran as "ecocide", the French newspaper "Figaro" reports. "Israel's bombing of fuel depots in Tehran violates international law and constitutes ecocide", he said in Ex.
"Residents risk long-term damage to their health. "The contamination of soil and groundwater could have consequences (for several generations)," the minister added.
Araghchi told CBS that Tehran had been "requested by a number of countries" calling for safe passage for their ships through the Strait of Hormuz, but added that the decision on this was in the hands of the Iranian military. He pointed out that a group of ships from "different countries" were allowed to pass, without giving further details.
Iran has said that the strait is open to everyone except the United States and its allies, notes the publication "Politico".
Araghchi added that at this stage "he sees no reason to talk to the Americans", noting that it was Israel and the United States that began the military action with their coordinated attacks on February 28 during indirect talks between Washington and Tehran on the Islamic Republic's nuclear program in Geneva.