US President Donald Trump lashed out Tuesday at allies who have been unwilling to do more to support the US war effort against Iran, telling them to “go get your own oil” and saying it was not America’s job to secure the Strait of Hormuz.
The president said the military could end its offensive in two to three weeks and that the US “will not have anything to do with” what happens next in the strait that has been closed by the Islamic Republic. Instead, he told reporters, the responsibility for keeping the vital waterway open will rest with countries that rely on it.
There’s “no reason for us to do this,” Trump said after signing an executive order that seeks to restrict mail-in voting. “That’s not for us. That’ll be for France. That’ll be for whoever’s using the strait.”
The White House said Trump would deliver a prime-time address Wednesday evening to update the public on the war.
In other developments, US strikes hit the central city of Isfahan, sending a massive fireball into the sky. Tehran attacked a fully loaded Kuwaiti oil tanker in the Persian Gulf.
The attacks showed the intensity of the war more than a month after the US and Israel launched it. The conflict has left more than 3,000 dead and caused major disruptions to the world’s supply of oil and natural gas, roiling global markets and pushing up the cost of many basic goods.
Trump, whose comments have vacillated between talk that diplomatic progress is being made with Iran and threats to widen the war, had earlier shared footage of the attack on Isfahan.
Fuel prices rise, rattling global markets
Iran’s stranglehold on the strait, the waterway leading out of the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of the world’s oil is transported during peacetime, has driven up global oil prices, as have Tehran’s attacks on regional energy infrastructure.
Spot prices of Brent crude, the international standard, hovered around $107 a barrel Tuesday, up more than 45% since the war started February 28.
In a social media post, Trump directed blame at US allies such as the UK and France that have refused to enter a war with no clear endgame and that they were not consulted on.
“You’ll have to start learning how to fight for yourself, the U.S.A. won’t be there to help you anymore, just like you weren’t there for us. Iran has been, essentially, decimated. The hard part is done. Go get your own oil!” Trump wrote.
He singled out France for not letting planes fly over French territory while taking military supplies to Israel.
France has allowed the US Air Force to use the Istres base in southern France because it had guarantees that planes landing there would not be involved in carrying out strikes.
Allies have refused to get involved
Spain, which has emerged as Europe’s loudest critic of the war, said Monday that it had closed its airspace for US planes involved in the conflict.
Italy recently refused to allow US military assets to use the Sigonella air base in Sicily for an operation linked to the offensive, an official with knowledge of the matter said, confirming a local press report. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak publicly.
Italian defence minister Guido Crosetto wrote on X that Italy is still allowing the US to use its bases, adding that there has been no cooling of relations between the two countries.
Journalist kidnapped in Iraq
An American journalist was kidnapped Tuesday in Baghdad, and Iraqi security forces are pursuing her captors, Iraqi officials said. The journalist was identified as freelancer Shelly Kittleson by Al-Monitor, one of the news outlets she worked for.
A US official blamed the Iranian-backed Iraqi militia Kata’ib Hezbollah.
Two cars were involved in the kidnapping, one of which crashed, and a person inside was apprehended. The journalist was then transferred to a second car that fled the scene, according to two Iraqi security officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak publicly about the case.
Dylan Johnson, US assistant secretary of state for public affairs, said on X that the state department had “fulfilled our duty to warn this individual of threats against them”.
In a statement, Al-Monitor said it stands by her “vital reporting”. Kittleson has been a longtime freelancer in the region, reporting extensively from Syria and Iraq.
Another aircraft carrier deploys to Middle East
The aircraft carrier USS George HW Bush deployed Tuesday from Norfolk, Virginia, and is slated to head to the Middle East, two US officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military plans.
It would be the third carrier sent out to support the Iran war, along with the USS Gerald R Ford, which is now undergoing repairs, and the USS Abraham Lincoln, which arrived in the region in January.
Trump warned this week that if a ceasefire is not reached “shortly”, and if the strait is not reopened, the US would broaden its offensive, including by attacking the Kharg Island oil export hub and possibly desalination plants.
Speaking at the Pentagon, defence secretary Pete Hegseth would not say if US ground forces would enter the war. “We don’t want to have to do more militarily than we have to,” he said.
A ground invasion could alienate Iranians who despise the ruling theocracy and who rose up in mass protests that were crushed earlier this year. Some could see it as an attack on Iran itself and rally around the flag.
Since the Iran war began, 13 US service members have been killed and 348 wounded, six seriously, according to a formal count provided Tuesday by captain Tim Hawkins, spokesperson for US Central Command.
Iran hits oil tanker as Israel strikes Iran and Lebanon
The Israeli military said early Wednesday that it had killed a senior Hezbollah commander and another senior leader in two separate strikes in the Beirut area.
Military officials said they launched strikes targeting what they described as Hezbollah infrastructure in the Lebanese capital. Defence minister Israel Katz said Israel plans to control the area south of the Litani River – some 30km north of the border.
Israel invaded southern Lebanon after Hezbollah began launching missiles into northern Israel days after the outbreak of the wider war. Many Lebanese fear another prolonged military occupation.
Elsewhere, the United Arab Emirates has barred Iranians from entering or transiting the country as the war rages, three major airlines said. The long-haul carriers Emirates and Etihad, as well as the lower-cost airline FlyDubai, made the announcements Wednesday on their websites.
In Iran, authorities say more than 1,900 people have been killed, while 19 have been reported dead in Israel.
Two dozen people have died in Gulf states and the occupied West Bank. In Lebanon, officials said more than 1,200 people have been killed, and more than 1-million displaced.
Ten Israeli soldiers have died in Lebanon, including four announced Tuesday.
Reporting by Jon Gambrell, Mike Corder and Darlene Superville, with David Rising, Abby Sewell, Sally Abou AlJoud, Sylvie Corbet, Amir-Hussein Radjy, Qassim Abdul-Zahra, Giada Zampano, Giovanna Dell’Orto and Konstantin Toropin.
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Top image: Ships sail through the Arabian Gulf toward the Strait of Hormuz as the sun sets in the United Arab Emirates on March 23. Picture: AP Photo, File.
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