Kamal Ghorui
United States President Donald Trump has told Nato secretary general Mark Rutte that he wants from the bloc a “concrete commitments within the next few days for help securing the Strait of Hormuz”, reported news agency Reuters citing two European diplomats.Trump’s demand stems from the alliance’s considered choice to not join the US in its war againt Iran or proactively lend bases or airspace to the US military, which left America exasperated.
The cracks in Nato grew wider after the bloc gave a cold shoulder to the Washington when Trump sought the Cold War-era alliance to step in the war against Iran and use it as a leverage in easing Tehran’s grip over Strait of Hormuz that has squeesed oil supply.The strain in the alliance continues even after the last-moment “fragile ceasefire” was reached between US-Iran for two weeks as Europe largely keep itself beyong the ambit of the West Asia war.Amid the ongoing between between the US and other Nato nations, Iran said it would allow no more than 15 vessels a day to pass through the Strait of Hormuz under the ceasefire agreement it agreed with the United States.The Strait, a strip of water only 34 km (21 miles) wide between Iran and Oman, provides passage from the Gulf to the Indian Ocean and is the main route for about a fifth of world oil supplies and other vital goods including fertilisers.It has been largely shut by Iran since the start of the conflict at the end of February, leading to a surge in global oil prices.Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz again Wednesday in response to Israeli attacks against the Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon, casting doubt over whether an already precarious ceasefire to end more than a month of war will hold.Israel also intensified its attacks in Lebanon, hitting several commercial and residential areas in Beirut without warning. At least 112 people were killed and hundreds were wounded in one of the deadliest days in the latest Israel-Hezbollah war. The fresh violence threatened to scuttle what US Vice President JD Vance called a “fragile” deal.“Aggression towards Lebanon is aggression towards Iran,” Gen Seyed Majid Mousavi, aerospace commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, wrote on X. He warned that Iranian forces were preparing a “heavy response” without revealing details. Israeli strikes hit several commercial and residential areas in central Beirut without warning on Wednesday.US President Trump told PBS News Hour that Lebanon was not included in the deal because of the Lebanese militant Hezbollah group. When asked about Israel’s latest strikes, he said, “That’s a separate skirmish.” Israel had said the agreement does not extend to its war with the Iran-backed Hezbollah, although mediator Pakistan said it does.The sense of relief among Lebanese after the ceasefire announcement turned into panic with what Israel’s military called its largest coordinated strike in the current war, hitting more than 100 Hezbollah targets within 10 minutes in Beirut, southern Lebanon and the eastern Bekaa Valley.Black smoke towered over several parts of the seaside capital, where a huge number of people displaced by war have taken shelter. Explosions interrupted the honking of traffic on what had been a bustling, blue-sky afternoon. Ambulances raced toward open flames. Apartment buildings were struck.
