By Tim Kelly and Jarrett Renshaw TOKYO/PALM BEACH, Florida, March 16 (Reuters) - Japan and Australia said on Monday they were not planning to send navy vessels to the Middle East to escort ships
Trump upset as US partners reject call for Hormuz warship escorts
By Bo Erickson, Alexander Cornwell and Parisa Hafezi
US Allies Reject Trump's Call for Hormuz Warship Escorts
WASHINGTON/TEL AVIV/DUBAI, March 16 (Reuters) - Several U.S. allies rebuffed Donald Trump's call on Monday to send warships to escort tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, drawing criticism from the U.S. president, who accused Western partners of ingratitude after decades of support.
The U.S.-Israeli war on Iran is in its third week with no end in sight. The critical Strait of Hormuz, through which 20% of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas flow, remains largely closed off, raising energy prices and fears of inflation.
The conflict has already imposed economic costs on U.S. allies, who were not consulted before the airstrikes on Iran and who have endured months of harsh criticism and bellicose threats from Trump since he returned to office.
A number of U.S. partners, including Germany, Spain and Italy, said they had no immediate plans to send ships to help reopen the strategic waterway, which Iran has effectively shut with drones and naval mines.
International Responses and Criticism
"We lack the mandate from the United Nations, the European Union or NATO required under the Basic Law," German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said in Berlin, adding that Washington and Israel had not consulted Germany before launching the war.
Trump, speaking at a White House event in Washington, said many countries had told him they were prepared to help, but voiced frustration with some long‑standing allies.
"Some are very enthusiastic about it, and some aren't," he said, without offering specifics. "Some are countries that we've helped for many, many years. We've protected them from horrible outside sources, and they weren't that enthusiastic. And the level of enthusiasm matters to me."
Escalation in the Middle East
Israel's Military Operations and Plans
ISRAEL STILL HAS 'THOUSANDS' OF TARGETS IN IRAN
Israel said on Monday it had drawn up detailed plans for at least three more weeks of war as it pounded sites across Iran overnight, while Iranian drone attacks temporarily shut Dubai airport and hit a key oil facility in the United Arab Emirates.
Israel troops pushed into new parts of southern Lebanon, part of an expanding operation after Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel in retaliation for the killing of Iran's supreme leader.
International Warnings and Humanitarian Concerns
In a joint statement, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Britain warned that any "significant Israeli ground offensive would have devastating humanitarian consequences and could lead to a protracted conflict," and that such an operation "must be averted."
Israel has said it wants to weaken Iran's capacity to threaten it, striking ballistic missile infrastructure, nuclear facilities and the security apparatus, and that it still has thousands of targets to hit.
"We want to make sure that they are as weak as possible, this regime, and that we degrade all their capabilities, all parts and all wings of their security establishment," Israeli military spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani said.
Iran's Response and Threats
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it would target U.S. industrial facilities in the Middle East and urged people living near U.S.-owned plants to leave.
Iran also responded to Trump's threat that he might attack oil facilities on Kharg Island, the country's main oil hub, if Tehran does not reopen the Strait of Hormuz. U.S. forces destroyed military targets on Kharg on Friday.
A spokesperson for the armed forces, Abolfazl Shekarchi, said Iran would target oil and gas facilities in any country from which U.S. attacks were launched on Kharg Island.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said Tehran had not asked for a ceasefire or exchanged messages with the U.S., according to Iran's semi-official Student News Network.
In a post on X, Araqchi also said some "neighbouring states" that host U.S. forces and permit attacks on Iran were actively encouraging the killing of Iranians.
He said 200 children were among the hundreds of Iranian civilians killed in U.S. or Israeli bombings.
Rescue workers in Tehran worked to pull people from the wreckage of a building in what an Iranian Red Crescent aid worker said was an entirely residential alleyway.
Strikes on Iran's Space Program and Regional Impact
Israeli Strikes on Space Facilities
ISRAEL CLAIMS STRIKES ON IRAN'S SPACE PROGRAM
Israel said its air force had struck sites linked to Iran's space program, including destroying a research facility in Tehran involved in developing a satellite launched in 2024.
Voices from Iran
One Tehran resident told Reuters that there had been no internet overnight and Iranians felt isolated from the world.
"People are being killed," Shahnaz, 62, said via WhatsApp. "Just days before Nowruz (Iranian New Year, on March 20), but people are not in the mood to celebrate. When will this end?”
Asked if she supported the Islamic Republic, Shahnaz said: "No, I don’t. How can I? They killed my granddaughter in (January's) protests. We want this regime to go. We want this misery to end."
Ongoing Attacks and Economic Disruption
In Tel Aviv, air raid sirens sounded late into the night, warning of incoming Iranian missiles and underscoring that, after more than two weeks of war, Tehran still retained the capacity to carry out long-range attacks. The IRGC said earlier that Iran had launched strikes on areas in Tel Aviv, the U.S. Al Dhafra Air Base in Abu Dhabi, the U.S. naval base in Bahrain and Bahrain’s Sheikh Isa Air Base.
On the UAE's coast along the Gulf of Oman, oil loading operations at the port of Fujairah partially resumed after an Iranian drone strike. Fujairah is a key exit point for the UAE's Murban crude - a volume equivalent to roughly 1% of global demand.
Flights at Dubai International Airport, one of the world's busiest, were suspended for several hours after a drone strike on a nearby fuel storage facility sent plumes of black smoke into the sky. Saudi Arabia intercepted 34 drones in its eastern region in one hour, state media said. No injuries were reported in ei
