The Iran war has brought much embarrassment to US President Donald Trump. Days after rejecting the UK’s proposal to send an aircraft carrier, Trump urged China, France, Japan, South Korea, the United Kingdom and others to send their warships to clear the Iranian blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. Now, Australia and Japan have declined Trump’s request.
In an interview, Australia’s Transport Minister Catherine King said, “Well, we’ve been very clear about what our contribution is in relation to requests, and so far, that is to the UAE, obviously providing aircraft to assist with defence, particularly given the number of Australians that are in that area in particular, but we won’t be sending a ship to the Strait of Hormuz.”
#BREAKING | Australia and Japan refuse to join Trump's naval coalition
— WION (@WIONews) March 16, 2026
Australia and Japan won't send warships to the Strait of Hormuz@JyotsnaKumar13 and @ShivanChanana have more
Lynne O’Donnell (@lynnekodonnell), Journalist & Author, shares her views pic.twitter.com/amnW6SMCyz
Meanwhile, Takayuki Kobayashi, a top policy official for the ruling LDP in Japan, has also confirmed he threshold for deploying the Self-Defence Forces into an active war zone remains “extremely high.” Japan’s decision to decline Trump’s request comes even as the country depends on the Strait of Hormuz for about 70% of its oil imports.
Interestingly, after an initial unsolicited offer and Trump’s snarky refusal to take British help, even the UK has backtracked, with Prime Minister Keir Starmer telling Trump that the UK is not ready to commit Royal Navy destroyers to the Strait of Hormuz.
The UK’s Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said, “There are different ways that we could contribute, including with mine-hunting drones… but we must ensure we don’t escalate this crisis.”
