President Donald Trump has called on the UK to send naval power to the Strait of Hormuz.
Mr Trump took to Truth Social, writing that “many countries” will be sending ships to the critical shipping lane in the Middle East to keep it “open and safe”.
However, he specifically called out the UK, China, France, Japan and South Korea, writing that he hopes that they “will send ships” to the Strait as they are “affected by this artificial constraint”.
This comes after six ships were attacked in the Gulf in under 48 hours this week.
Iran’s new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, is determined to keep blocking the critical shipping lane.
President Trump said: “Many Countries, especially those who are affected by Iran’s attempted closure of the Hormuz Strait, will be sending War Ships, in conjunction with the United States of America, to keep the Strait open and safe.
“We have already destroyed 100% of Iran’s Military capability, but it’s easy for them to send a drone or two, drop a mine, or deliver a close range missile somewhere along, or in, this Waterway, no matter how badly defeated they are.
“Hopefully China, France, Japan, South Korea, the UK, and others, that are affected by this artificial constraint, will send Ships to the area so that the Hormuz Strait will no longer be a threat by a Nation that has been totally decapitated.
President Trump’s post of Truth Social was published on Saturday afternoon
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TRUTH SOCIAL
The US President continued, describing that America had been “bombing the hell out of the shoreline” and consistently “shooting Iranian Boats and Ships out of the water”.
He concluded his post, published at 2pm GMT, writing: “One way or the other, we will soon get the Hormuz Strait OPEN, SAFE, and FREE!”
This call to the UK to send ships to the Middle East comes as HMS Dragon, heading to Cyprus, loitered in the Channel for three days after finally leaving Portsmouth harbour.
The Type 45 destroyer only left UK waters on Friday, but only covered 220 miles from Portsmouth to Land’s End in three days, whilst preparations continued.
HMS Dragon, a Type 45 destroyer, only left UK waters yesterday
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GETTYIn terms of which “ships” the UK would send to the Strait of Hormuz, we could only send HMS Prince of Wales because it is the only aircraft carrier that is in a state of high readiness.
The UK’s other aircraft carrier, HMS Queen Elizabeth, is under prolonged repairs and has been in dry dock in Scotland since September last year.
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