【Wen/Observer Net Liu Bai】Trump, who ordered the "epic fury" invasion of Iran, ended up getting himself very angry.

Seeing that his allies were unenthusiastic about the escort call, he publicly warned in an interview with the Financial Times on March 15 that if allies remained indifferent to helping the US open the Strait of Hormuz, NATO would face a "very bad future." Analysts pointed out that Trump was clearly and openly demanding European countries to join the US' military action against Iran.

"It is reasonable for countries benefiting from the Strait of Hormuz to help ensure no trouble occurs in the region," Trump said regarding the mess he had created, hoping to drag other countries into it. He claimed that unlike the US, Europe highly depends on oil from the Gulf region.

"If there's no response, or a passive response, that means NATO will face a very bad future," he added.

Trump made these remarks during an 8-minute phone interview with the Financial Times. The situation has developed this way, and his anxiety is understandable.

On the previous day, Trump had just posted on the "Truth Social" platform, calling on Britain, France, Japan, and South Korea to send warships to join the US in "keeping the Strait of Hormuz open and safe." In a subsequent supplementary post, he further expanded the scope of his call, asking all countries that obtain oil through the strait to provide naval support, trying to form an "international escort fleet."

March 7, Tehran, Iran: The US and Israel launched a military strike against Iran, oil facilities were bombed, and thick smoke rose. IC Photo

Two weeks after the US and Israel launched a military invasion of Iran, Iran had effectively blocked the Strait of Hormuz, raising concerns about another round of oil price shocks affecting the global economy.

The US' efforts to open the waterway have largely failed. International oil prices reached a high of $106 per barrel on the 15th, rising by about 45% since the war began.

Sarcasm, despite Trump's loud statements, the US itself has not yet dispatched naval vessels to escort oil tankers passing through the strait. Countries generally worry that sending ships into the conflict might involve them in the ongoing escalation of the Middle East conflict, facing unpredictable military risks, and thus took a cautious approach.

In response to Trump's call, the UK stated it was discussing solutions with allies and considering deploying unmanned minesweepers; Japanese officials did not rule out sending warships but admitted that actual deployment had "very high thresholds," effectively a婉拒 (polite refusal); South Korea said it would closely communicate and carefully assess; France explicitly refused to send warships, only planning to conduct purely defensive escorts after the conflict eased. Meanwhile, India emphasized that direct negotiations with Iran were the effective way to reopen the strait.

Trump's seemingly strong words actually revealed his pessimistic expectations about the response from his allies.

"We have something called NATO," Trump said, often criticizing the alliance, "we've always been generous. We didn't need to help them with the Ukraine issue, which is thousands of miles away... but we still did. Now it's up to them to help us."

"Because I've always said we'll stand up for them, but they won't do the same for us. I'm not sure if they'll act."

When asked what specific assistance was needed, Trump replied, "At any cost."

He added that allies should deploy minesweepers, and Europe has far more minesweepers than the US.

He also hoped "someone could clear some troublemakers along the Iranian coast." Trump hinted that he hoped Europe would send special forces or other military forces to intervene, eliminating those Iranians using drones and mines to "cause trouble" in the Gulf region.

"We're hitting them hard," Trump said, "they can only make small troubles in the strait now, nothing else."

"But those countries are beneficiaries, they should help us maintain order in the region. We'll help them, but they should also contribute. To control a few people, you need many people watching together."

Earlier on the 15th, Trump was particularly dissatisfied with the UK's response after talking with British Prime Minister Starmer.

"The UK may be seen as our number one ally, the longest partner, etc., but when I asked them to send troops, they were unwilling," he said, "when we basically cleared Iran's threat capability, they said 'okay, we'll send two ships.' I said, 'we need those ships before victory, not after.' I've always said NATO is a one-way street."

Trump claimed that due to the US and Israel having destroyed Iran's military capabilities in the past two weeks, the risk for allies deploying military assets to the Gulf region was minimal.

"We've basically crippled Iran," Trump said, "they have no navy, no air defense, no air force, everything is gone. The only thing they can do is plant a mine in the water to cause some small trouble—though it's a small trouble, it could lead to big problems."

In fact, European allies have already suffered losses in this conflict. Last week, a French soldier was killed in Iraq by an Iranian drone attack; over the weekend, an Italian military aircraft was destroyed at a base in Kuwait.

Trump also warned that the US was prepared to launch a new strike on the Iranian oil export hub, Khark Island, and possibly target its oil infrastructure.

"You saw, we attacked Khark Island yesterday, and all facilities except the oil pipelines were destroyed," he mentioned the bombing operation, "we can strike there again within five minutes, and they can do nothing about it."

When asked whether Russia provided satellite data to Iran to target the US-Israel anti-missile system, Trump said, "I don't know the specifics. But you can also say that we have helped Ukraine to some extent."

"So it's hard to accuse 'you are targeting us,' because we are doing the same thing too."

Trump said the Biden administration had provided $35 billion in cash and equipment aid to Ukraine. "So when we ourselves are doing the same thing, it's hard to question 'what are you doing exactly.'"

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Original: toutiao.com/article/7617719685383012902/

Statement: The article represents the personal views of the author.