Donald Trump promised the world would join his blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. His closest allies said no.

One by one on Monday, NATO members declined to participate in the U.S. maritime operation that would cut off all shipping to and from Iranian ports. Britain said it would not be dragged into the war. France announced a rival diplomatic framework. Turkey said the strait should be reopened through negotiation, not force.

The coordinated rebuff lands as one of the sharpest public ruptures between Washington and its European partners since the conflict with Iran began six weeks ago.

“We’re not supporting the blockade,” British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told the BBC. “My decision has been very clearly that whatever the pressure — and there’s been some considerable pressure — we’re not getting dragged into the war.”

Weekend peace talks between the United States and Iran collapsed without an agreement, and Trump responded Sunday with an announcement on Truth Social that the U.S. military would move to seal the Strait of Hormuz.

The U.S. military later clarified the scope: the operation would target ships traveling to or from Iranian ports specifically, not all maritime traffic. But the distinction did little to ease European alarm over a waterway through which one-fifth of the world’s oil normally passes — and which Iran has effectively closed since hostilities began Feb. 28.

The allies’ refusal to sign on is the latest in a mounting series of frictions with Trump. He has threatened to withdraw the United States from NATO altogether, and is weighing pulling American troops from Europe after several member states refused to allow U.S. military aircraft to use their airspace during the Iran campaign.

Rather than joining the blockade, France moved to establish a separate multinational mission. President Emmanuel Macron announced Monday on X that France would organize a conference with Britain and other countries to create an international force to restore navigation in the strait once conditions allow.

“This strictly defensive mission, distinct from the belligerents, will be deployed as soon as the situation allows,” Macron said.

Britain is separately working on mechanisms to reduce insurance premiums for commercial vessels transiting the strait after the fighting stops, according to a senior European official.

The European posture — willing to help stabilize the strait, unwilling to participate in offensive operations — reflects a careful line allies are trying to hold between placating Washington and avoiding co-belligerence.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte is caught in the middle. He told European governments last week that Trump wants concrete commitments in the near future to help secure the strait, diplomats told Reuters. On April 9, Rutte said NATO could potentially form a mission there if all 32 members agreed, but several countries have conditioned any involvement on a durable ceasefire and a guarantee from Iran that their ships would not be attacked.

No such guarantee exists. No ceasefire has held.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan added his country’s voice to the dissent Monday, calling for diplomacy rather than an international force, and warning that assembling such a coalition would be complicated. He also called for NATO to use its July summit in Ankara to reset its relationship with the Trump administration, an acknowledgment that the alliance is badly in need of repair.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)