The transatlantic split over the Iran war grew, as more European nations rejected US President Donald Trump’s calls to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

 

A meeting of European leaders was “near-unanimous” in opposing Trump’s request, Politico reported; even Washington’s traditionally staunch allies, such as Poland and Britain, show little interest.

 

France said it could send ships, but only after the fighting stops; the EU’s top diplomat said “this is not Europe’s war.”

 

The reluctance stems from Trump’s undermining of “the US-led alliance system… one of the greatest pillars of American world power” with his frequent verbal attacks on friendly nations, the war scholar Phillips O’Brien wrote. It has “finally dawned” on Trump, said O’Brien, that alliances matter. - (ANA) - 

 

AB/ANA/18 March 2026  - - -