President Donald Trump issued a plea Saturday to several countries in the hopes that they would “send ships” to a major shipping route off the coast of Iran to help the United States’ war effort against the Middle East nation, a plea that as of Sunday afternoon appeared to go largely ignored.
In response to the U.S.-Israeli joint military siege launched late last month, Iran has vowed to attack any sea vessels aligned with the United States and its allies that attempt to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, a major shipping route through which 20% of the world’s oil trade flows. As a result, oil prices have skyrocketed, reportedly sparking panic within the Trump administration.
“Hopefully China, France, Japan, South Korea, the UK, and others, that are affected by this artificial constraint, will send Ships to the area so that the Hormuz Strait will no longer be a threat by a Nation that has been totally decapitated,” Trump wrote in a social media post on Saturday.
Well over 24 hours later, however, Trump’s plea was “met with little in the way of immediate commitments from the nations he named,” The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday.
The strongest response Trump received was from South Korea, with its Foreign Ministry saying that it “takes note” of Trump’s request and that it would “closely coordinate and carefully review” the ongoing conflict, Nikkei Asia reported Sunday.