By Maroosha Muzaffar
Trump says his administration contacted seven countries to help secure waterway.
Japan and Australia have said they currently have no plans to send naval ships to protect shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, despite pressure from Washington.
US president Donald Trump had earlier said that his administration had contacted seven countries and expected them to help secure the waterway.
“I’m demanding that these countries come in and protect their own territory because it is their territory,” Mr Trump told reporters aboard the Air Force One. “It’s the place from which they get their energy.”
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However, Japanese prime minister Sanae Takaichi said the US had yet to make any formal request for assistance.
“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,” she said.
Ms Takaichi told lawmakers: “Legally speaking, this is very difficult. We are carefully examining what can be done within the scope of current laws and what is the best course of action at this time. At the same time, we are continuing to engage with Iran to help de-escalate the situation while also exchanging information with various countries.”
Japan has begun releasing oil reserves to stabilise supply, but says sending its Self-Defence Forces abroad would be politically sensitive. Takayuki Kobayashi, the policy chief of Takaichi’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party, said the threshold for military involvement was “extremely high”.
Australia has also rejected calls to provide naval support to secure shipping in the strait. “We’ve been very clear about what our contribution is to requests and so far that is to the UAE [United Arab Emirates] obviously providing aircraft to assist with defence particularly given the number of Australians that are in that area in particular,” transport minister Catherine King said.
“We won’t be sending a ship to the Strait of Hormuz,” Ms King said.
“We know how incredibly important that is but that’s not something we’ve been asked or we’re contributing to.”
James Paterson, the shadow defence minister, said that Australia would have to “carefully consider” any request for naval assets. “You would need to have a naval vessel that’s capable of protecting itself against drone and missile attacks.
A navy vessel is seen sailing in the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway through which much of the world’s oil and gas passes, on 1 March 2026
“And in 2023, when a similar request from the United States came to help in the Red Sea against the Houthis terrorist organisation, we weren’t able to provide any naval vessels because we didn’t have ones that could protect themselves that were available for that mission,” he told Australia’s Channel Nine.
Most other countries approached by Mr Trump are reluctant to send military ships to the Strait of Hormuz, despite US pressure. In an earlier social media post, he said he hoped countries including China, France, Japan, South Korea and Britain would take part.
The UK is considering sending aerial minesweepers, but officials have warned that deploying warships could escalate the conflict.
France has ruled out sending additional military forces, saying its current posture aims to maintain regional stability rather than escalate tensions.
South Korea has not committed either way, saying they’ll “continue to communicate closely with the US regarding this matter and make a decision after careful review”.
It was reported last week that China has been in talks with Iran about ensuring safe oil and gas passage.
However, the US president said he might postpone his trip if it did not provide assistance.”I think China should help too because China gets 90 per cent of its oil from the Straits,” Mr Trump said.
“We may delay,” he said in reference to his visit if China did not offer support in the Gulf.
Original source: https://www.independent.co.uk/asia/japan/strait-of-hormuz-iran-trump-japan-australia-nato-b2939124.html