NATO Fractures Over Trump's Call for War in Strait of Hormuz
LONDON — Aggression against Iran has fractured the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO). United States President Donald Trump has threatened his European allies in NATO with dire consequences for the alliance because they have refused to deploy their naval forces to the Strait of Hormuz, which remains under the complete control of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
Trump stated that the refusal of his European partners would result in a bleak future for NATO. “A very bad future for NATO, unless they provide warships,” Trump said in an interview with the Financial Times, as reported by The Guardian on Monday 16 March 2026.
According to Trump, Europe comprises a set of nations that have long benefited from security in the Strait of Hormuz. To date, Iran has kept this crucial waterway—through which one-fifth of global oil and liquid gas commodities flow—closed because of attacks by the US-Zionist Israel aggressor.
Trump stated that countries benefiting from security in the Strait of Hormuz have a responsibility to assist the US and Israel in reopening access to one-fifth of the world’s oil and gas by fighting Iran.
“It is only right that those (European nations) who benefit from the strait contribute to ensuring that nothing bad happens there. If there is no response, or they provide a negative response, I think that would be very bad for the future of NATO,” Trump said.
The US is the principal member of NATO. However, the participation of European nations is more dominant. And the leaders of these dominant countries have ensured that Trump’s call for NATO members to deploy their military forces to the Strait of Hormuz cannot be accepted.
NATO countries also regard the US-Zionist aggression attacking Iran as a war not involving NATO members. Since the US-Zionist attack on Iran on Saturday 28 February 2026, with the conflict now in its third week, Europe has affirmed its unwillingness to participate.
Europe has even condemned Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu for attacking Iran. Germany, one of NATO’s strongest member states in Europe, has repeatedly stated that US-Zionist aggression against Iran constitutes a violation of international law.
The US-Zionist attack on Iran, which resulted in the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, has made the situation increasingly complex. For this reason, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has rejected every proposal from the US or Israel inviting participation in the war. This includes firmly rejecting Trump’s call to help take control of the Strait of Hormuz, which is Iranian territorial waters.
“There has never been a joint decision about whether we (Germany) will intervene. That is why the question of how Germany will contribute militarily will never arise. We will not do it,” Merz said.
Although he said the perception that the Mullah government must be ended, “But not by bombing them. Based on the experience we have gained over the years and decades before, bombing them into submission is not the right approach,” Merz said.