NATO allies said on Monday they would not get involved in U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan to blockade Iranian ports, proposing to intervene only once fighting ends, in a move likely to anger Trump and increase strains in the alliance.
Trump said the U.S. military would eliminate any Iranian ships that came near the blockade that began on Monday, after weekend talks failed to reach an agreement to end the six-week conflict with Iran.
Trump initially said the U.S. would work with other countries to block ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz, but the U.S. military later specified that the blockade would only apply to ships going to or from Iranian ports.
Since the war started on February 28, Iran has largely blocked the waterway for all ships but its own. It has been seeking to make its control of the strait permanent and possibly collect levies from ships that use it.
“The Blockade will begin shortly. Other Countries will be involved with this Blockade,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social on Sunday.
But NATO allies, including Britain and France, said they would not be drawn into the conflict by taking part in the blockade, saying instead they were working on an initiative to open the strait, through which a fifth of global oil supplies normally passes.
Their refusal to participate is another point of friction with Trump, who has threatened to withdraw from the military alliance and is weighing pulling some U.S. troops from Europe after several countries denied U.S. military planes use of their airspace for attacks on Iran.
CONSIDERABLE PRESSURE
“We’re not supporting the blockade,” British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told the BBC.
“My decision has been very clearly that whatever the pressure, and there’s been some considerable pressure, we’re not getting dragged into the war,” he said.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte told European governments that Trump wants concrete commitments in the near future to help secure the Strait of Hormuz, diplomats told Reuters last week.
NATO could play a role in the strait if its 32 members could agree on the formation of a mission, Rutte said on Thursday.
Several European countries have said they are willing to help in the strait, but only once there is a durable end to hostilities and an agreement with Iran that their ships will not be attacked.
France will organize a conference with Britain and other countries to create a multinational mission to restore navigation in the strait, French President Emmanuel Macron said on X on Monday.
“This strictly defensive mission, distinct from the belligerents, will be deployed as soon as the situation allows,” Macron said.
The initiative aims to establish rules for safe passage and the coordination of military vessels to escort tankers, Starmer said in parliament on Monday.
“Let me be very clear, this is about safeguarding shipping and supporting freedom of navigation once the conflict ends. Our shared aim here is a coordinated, independent, multi-national plan,” he said.
A meeting to draw up plans for the mission involving about 30 countries, including Gulf countries, India, Greece, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands and Sweden, could happen as soon as Thursday in Paris or London, a French diplomatic source said.
The military ships would provide reassurance without being belligerent, the source said, adding that Iran and the U.S. would be informed of the mission but play no direct part.
Another European diplomatic source questioned whether Trump would welcome a mission now that he had ordered the blockade.
“Since Trump is now using the strait as his own leverage, does he even want a mission there?” the source said.
The Strait of Hormuz should be reopened by diplomacy, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Monday, adding that creating an international force to oversee it would be complicated. He called for NATO to reset its ties with Trump at a summit in Ankara in July.
U.S. details boundaries of Hormuz blockade
The U.S. military on Monday detailed the boundaries of its Strait of Hormuz blockade, saying it would extend east to the Gulf of Oman and Arabian Sea, while ship-tracking data showed two ships turned around in the strait as the blockade went into effect.
In a note to seafarers about the blockade that seeks to take control of the strait away from Iran, the U.S. Central Command said: “Any vessel entering or departing the blockaded area without authorization is subject to interception, diversion, and capture.”
“The blockade will not impede neutral transit passage through the Strait of Hormuz to or from non-Iranian destinations.”
The blockade began at 10 a.m. EDT on Monday.
Data from the MarineTraffic tracking service showed the tanker Rich Starry, which departed Sharjah anchorage off the coast of Dubai on Monday heading for China, turned back minutes after approaching the strait as did a second vessel, the Ostria. Those tankers can carry oil and chemicals.
However, two oil tankers linked to Iran exited the Gulf on Monday via the strait ahead of the planned U.S. blockade, shipping data from Kpler and LSEG showed.
The tanker Aurora is laden with Iranian oil products, while the New Future tanker is carrying diesel loaded from the Hamriyah port in the United Arab Emirates, Kpler data showed.
They were among at least eight ships that transited the strait on Monday before the blockade.
According to Kpler, an oil products tanker that loaded in a United Arab Emirates port and three dry bulk ships that left from Iranian ports exited the strait while two Pakistani oil products tankers and two dry bulk ships entered the strait.
The U.S. military note said the blockade would include all of Iran’s coastline but humanitarian shipments including food, medical supplies, and other essential goods would be permitted, subject to inspection.
“The immediate effect will be a sharp drop in fresh fixture activity for any voyage with Iran exposure, and a broader hesitation even for non-Iran cargoes moving near the Strait,” said Shohruh Zukhritdinov, a Dubai-based oil trader.
International Maritime Organization Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez told reporters the U.S. blockade would extend a halt to ship traffic in the strait since the conflict began. Dominguez said 20,000 seafarers and around 1,600 vessels were stuck in the Gulf.
© Thomson Reuters 2026.
