Trump Claims to Have Weakened Iran, Now Seeks British-Chinese Assistance in Strait of Hormuz
US President Donald Trump previously claimed to have weakened Iran and stated that war would soon end. Now Trump is requesting Britain and other nations to send warships to the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has closed.
According to BBC reporting on Sunday, 15 March 2026, Trump urged Britain and other countries to send warships to the Strait of Hormuz to help secure a vital shipping route from the Middle East. Trump stated he hoped China, France, Japan, and South Korea would also send vessels to the strait, where numerous tankers have reportedly been attacked since the US and Israel launched military operations against Iran two weeks ago.
Responding to Trump’s comments, Britain’s Ministry of Defence said it was discussing “various options to ensure maritime security in the region” with its allies. Iran has vowed to continue blocking the strait, which is the world’s busiest oil shipping lane, through which approximately 20% of global oil supplies typically pass.
The effective closure, coupled with attacks on maritime and energy infrastructure since the war began, has caused a substantial rise in global oil prices.
Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Saturday, 14 March, that “many countries” would send warships alongside the US to help keep the strait “open and safe”.
He claimed that “100% of Iran’s military capability” had been destroyed, but Tehran could still “send one or two drones, lay mines, or send short-range missiles somewhere along, or in, this waterway”.
“I hope China, France, Japan, South Korea, Britain, and other countries affected by this artificial constraint will send ships to the area so the Strait of Hormuz is no longer threatened by a nation that has been completely crippled,” Trump said.
“Meanwhile, the United States will bombard the coastline relentlessly, and continue shooting down Iranian ships. One way or another, we will soon open, secure, and liberate the Strait of Hormuz!” he added.
Trump reiterated his call in a subsequent post, expanding it to all “countries in the world that receive oil through the Strait of Hormuz” and stating that the US would provide “substantial” support to those participating.
Trump separately threatened to target vital Iranian oil infrastructure on Kharg Island if the leadership “interferes with” vessels attempting to pass through the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump claimed the US had “destroyed” military targets on a small island off the Iranian coast on Friday, 13 March, calling it “one of the most devastating bombing campaigns in Middle Eastern history”.
The Iranian military stated that oil and energy infrastructure of companies cooperating with the US would be “soon destroyed” if the island’s oil infrastructure is attacked.
Tehran has escalated such attacks against energy targets in the Gulf, which have become a key element of its response to US and Israeli strikes. Last Thursday, Iran warned that every tanker bound for the US, Israel, or their partners was a legitimate target.
The UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) stated in its latest update on 12 March that 16 vessels have been reported attacked within and around the strait since the war began on 28 February. Currently, the US Navy is not escorting tankers through the narrow shipping lane.
Trump’s message came a week after he stated that the US did not need Britain to send an aircraft carrier to the region and accused Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer of attempting to “join the war after we’ve already won”.
He also told BBC’s US partner CBS that he “did not care” whether allies could do more to support the war effort.
“Rather late to send a ship, isn’t it? Rather late,” he said.
He had previously also criticised Keir Starmer for not joining the initial strike against Iran and refusing to allow the US to use British bases for joint operations with Israel, calling him “not Winston Churchill”. The British Prime Minister subsequently approved “defensive” US action against Iranian missile sites from RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire and Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean, stating that Iran’s response had become a threat to Britain.
Britain’s only warship in the region, the Type 45 destroyer HMS Dragon, departed for Cyprus last Tuesday. The vessel will reinforce RAF Akrotiri after sustaining drone attacks.
The Royal Navy previously stationed minesweepers in Bahrain, but no longer possesses that capability after withdrawing HMS Middleton. Ministers have affirmed that Britain built up its RAF presence in the region before the conflict, with the aim of protecting British military personnel.