Trump urges allies to act on Hormuz blockade, claims he 'predicted' Iran's strategy

Ahead of a meeting with members of the Kennedy Center board, President Donald Trump asserted that the Strait of Hormuz will open for trade "very soon," even as he called U.S. allies for naval assistance. The blockade—Iran's response to Operation Epic Fury—has led to a significant surge in global oil prices, with many lawmakers questioning the President's need to approve the preemptive strikes on February 28.

While a section of U.S. lawmakers have accused Trump of launching another "forever war", offering scepticism about the U.S.'s plan of action in reopening the Strait of Hormuz, Trump claimed that he had predicted that Iran would be using the Strait as an economic weapon, just like he had "predicted a lot of things." "Just like I knew about the Strait that would be a weapon, which I predicted a long time ago, predicted all of this stuff," Trump said before reiterating his claim of having predicted the 9/11 tragedy a year before it happened.

"I predicted Osama bin Laden would knock out the World Trade Center. I made that prediction a year before he did it. I said you better get him. He's a bad guy. I watched him be interviewed one time, and I said that's a bad guy, you better get him, one year before exactly. I wrote it in a book," Trump said, referring to his 2000 book, 'The America We Deserve'. While the book did predict a major terrorist attack on a U.S. city that would make the 1993 World Trade Center bombing look small, it did not explicitly state that bin Laden would be the one to orchestrate an attack. Bin Laden was, however, labelled a public enemy.  

Are U.S. allies joining Operation Epic Fury?

During the press conference, President Trump implied that other countries should unite to help open the Strait of Hormuz, as they were the ones bearing the cost of Iran's blockade. "We strongly encourage other nations whose economies depend on the Strait far more than ours—you know, we get less than 1% of our oil from the Strait, and some countries get much more. Japan gets 95%, China gets 90%, many of the Europeans get quite a bit, South Korea gets 35%. So we want them to come and help us with the Strait," Trump said, before adding that numerous countries told him that they're "on their way." 

"Some are very enthusiastic about it, and some are countries that we've helped for many, many years—we've protected them from horrible outside sources—and they weren't that enthusiastic. And the level of enthusiasm matters to me. We have some countries where we have 45,000 soldiers—great soldiers—protecting them from harm's way, and we have done a great job," Trump said. Among the countries Trump mentioned, Japan said they are still examining the situation. "The Japanese government is currently examining what necessary measures should be taken. Of course, this will be within the Japanese legal framework, but we are proceeding with consideration as to how we can protect the lives of Japanese vessels and their crews, and what can be done in such regards," Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said on Monday.

​The South Korean Foreign Ministry will decide after "careful consideration", the BBC reported. The Korean Ministry informed the British broadcaster that South Korea is closely monitoring the situation and is exploring measures from multiple angles to ensure the safety of its citizens and the security of energy transport routes. Meanwhile, China called on all parties to stop hostilities. "China once again calls on parties to immediately stop military operations, avoid further escalation of the tense situation, and prevent regional turmoil from further impacting the global economy," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said. 

Among the U.S.'s NATO allies, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that the U.K is working out a "viable plan" with U.S., European, and Gulf partners, but has yet to take any decisions. Germany has said that it is not their war. "This is not our war. We have not started it," German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius was quoted by several media outlets as saying. France has indicated its intention to work towards opening the Strait, but has not confirmed any immediate plans to send vessels.