As President Trump’s war with Iran enters its third week, European leaders are caught between his bellicose demands for help in reopening the Strait of Hormuz and their deep reluctance to be drawn into a war of America’s choosing.
Several leaders reacted with alarm and apprehension on Monday to Mr. Trump’s criticism of their lack of action, with some explicitly rejecting his call to send their navies into harm’s way even as the U.S. and Israeli-led war continues to drive up the price of global energy.
Officials bristled at Mr. Trump’s warning in an interview on Sunday that “it will be very bad for the future of NATO” if European nations do not join the United States in its effort to reopen the vital waterway to tankers carrying oil, gas and fertilizer. On Saturday, he had suggested in a post on social media that “many Countries, especially those who are affected by Iran’s attempted closure of the Hormuz Strait, will be sending War Ships.”
But officials in Europe are saying the opposite.
“This is not our war; we did not start it,” Boris Pistorius, Germany’s defense minister, said Monday morning. He said Germany wants diplomatic solutions and “sending more warships to the region will likely not help achieve that.”
The French foreign ministry posted on social media that its navy was staying in the eastern Mediterranean: “Posture has not changed: defensive it is.”
Prime Minister Keir Starmer of Britain vowed at a news conference on Monday that his country “will not be drawn into the wider war” with Iran.
“My leadership is about standing firm for the British interest, no matter the pressure,” Mr. Starmer said without specifically referencing the president’s comments. He added that British officials were working with “all of our allies, including our European partners” on what could be done collectively to reopen the Strait.
The economic pressures on European officials are real, with prices for gasoline and heating oil already spiking and voters expressing dismay about the effect on their pocketbooks.
But so is the sense of déjà vu. Leaders in Europe and around the world remember the last time an American president called on allies to assemble forces in the Middle East. In many parts of Europe the 2003 invasion of Iraq is seen as a costly mistake, driven by faulty intelligence at the insistence of former President George W. Bush.
In the current conflict the risks are once again enormous. Do nothing and stand by as prices surge, potentially ruining the chances for economic growth and sowing anger among people who are struggling to make ends meet. Or join the fight and face the possibility of military losses that trigger an even deeper engagement with Iran and its terror proxies.
And they have to navigate Mr. Trump’s longstanding accusation that NATO countries are laggards when it comes to their own defense. He told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday that “it will be interesting to see what country wouldn’t help us with a very small endeavor.”
Nick Carter, Britain’s former chief of the defense staff, said in an interview with BBC Radio that it would be inappropriate for NATO forces to join the United States and Israel in their war against Iran.
NATO was created as “a defensive alliance, and all of its articles are essentially oriented towards the defense,” he said. “It was not an alliance that was designed for one of the allies to go on a war of choice and then oblige everybody else to follow.”
Mr. Starmer, who has been repeatedly attacked by Mr. Trump for not participating in the initial attack against Iran, reiterated that point in his news conference.
“Let me be clear, that won’t be and it’s never been envisioned as a NATO mission,” he said.
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani also downplayed expectations that Italy’s navy would be drawn into protecting oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz. An Italian missile frigate is in an allied strike group accompanying France’s aircraft carrier, but so far its operations are limited to the eastern Mediterranean.
“We are not involved in military operations in the Strait of Hormuz,” Mr. Tajani told the Italian television program TG 4 on Sunday.
He said that Italy “never said — but neither did France, no other European country has offered to send military ships to force a passage through the Strait of Hormuz.”
An Italian aircraft was destroyed on Sunday by a drone attack on the Ali Al Salem base in Kuwait that also houses American troops, but the Italian military said none of its personnel were injured.
On Monday, the Polish foreign minister, Radoslaw Sikorski, said that Polish leaders had also “ruled out” sending Polish forces into the conflict against Iran.
Regarding Hormuz, “there hasn’t been any discussion within the government on this matter yet,” Mr. Sikorski said in Brussels. “It’s a bit worrying that President Trump refers to NATO as ‘them’ or ‘Europe’ rather than ‘us’. There are procedures in place. From what I understand, these haven’t yet been initiated within NATO.”
Jim Tankersley and Steven Erlanger contributed from Berlin. Jeanna Smialek contributed from Brussels. Lara Jakes contributed reporting from Rome.
Michael D. Shear is the chief U.K. correspondent for The New York Times, covering British politics and culture and diplomacy around the world.
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