JAPAN, AUSTRALIA: NO PLANS TO SEND SHIPS TO HORMUZ

AFTER TRUMP DEMANDS HELP TO SECURE STRAIT

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An LPG gas tanker at anchor as traffic is down in the Strait of Hormuz, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Shinas, Oman, March 11, 2026.

(Reuters photo)

TOKYO/PALM BEACH, Florida — Japan and Australia said on Monday they were not planning to send navy vessels to the Middle East to escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz, after US President Donald Trump called on allies to create a coalition to reopen the vital waterway.

With the US-Israeli war on Iran creating turmoil across the Middle East and shaking up global energy markets in its third week, Trump on Sunday insisted that nations relying heavily on oil from the Gulf have a responsibility to protect the strait through which 20 percent of the world’s energy transits.

Markets in Asia opened cautiously, with Brent crude rising more than 1 percent above $104.50 and regional share markets mostly weaker after Trump’s comments about enlisting other countries to help safeguard the strait.

“I’m demanding that these countries come in and protect their own territory because it is their territory,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on the way from Florida to Washington. “It’s the place from which they get their energy.”