Donald Trump urges UK to send warships to help secure Strait of Hormuz

The UK must send ships to help the US secure a key oil shipping route out of the Middle East, Donald Trump has said.

The US president appealed to the UK and other nations including France, China and Japan to send warships to the Strait of Hormuz to protect oil tankers from Iranian attacks.

Tehran is blockading the narrow sea passage out of the Persian Gulf, stemming the flow of oil out of the Middle East and pushing up energy prices across the globe.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) would not reveal whether it would send ships to heed the US president’s call.

In a post on his Truth Social website, Mr Trump said: “Many countries, especially those who are affected by Iran’s attempted closure of the Hormuz Strait, will be sending war ships, in conjunction with the United States of America, to keep the strait open and safe.

“We have already destroyed 100% of Iran’s military capability, but it’s easy for them to send a drone or two, drop a mine, or deliver a close-range missile somewhere along, or in, this waterway, no matter how badly defeated they are.”

In what appeared to be an appeal to the UK and other nations, the US leader added: “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.

“In the meantime, the United States will be bombing the hell out of the shoreline and continually shooting Iranian boats and ships out of the water. One way or the other, we will soon get the Hormuz Strait OPEN, SAFE, and FREE!”

Responding to Mr Trump’s call for aid, an MoD spokesperson said: “As we’ve said previously, we are currently discussing with our allies and partners a range of options to ensure the security of shipping in the region.”

Mr Trump has threatened to “wipe out” Kharg Island, a vital part of Iran’s oil infrastructure, should the country’s ruling regime not reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

The US has “totally obliterated” a series of military targets on the island in recent strikes which Mr Trump described as “one of the most powerful bombing raids in the history of the Middle East”.

Some 3,000 ships usually sail through the Strait of Hormuz each month, it is estimated.

But numerous vessels have come under fire as they attempted to pass through since the start of the conflict.

Motjaba Khamenei, Iran’s new supreme leader, vowed to keep blocking it as a means of pressuring the US in his first public statement this week.

Britain has come under criticism from the American president for failing to join the US military venture from its beginning and for not being forthright in its support since.

The Government has also faced domestic criticism for its slow response to drone strikes on RAF bases on Cyprus.

Type 45 warship HMS Dragon has now been deployed to the island and is travelling to the eastern Mediterranean after it underwent swift repairs in Portsmouth.

Ministers insisted the UK has built up an RAF presence in the region ahead of the US-Israeli strikes which opened the conflict, with the aim of protecting British military personnel.