Donald Trump has lashed out against Nato, accusing the military alliance of being ‘cowards’ after it didn’t bend to his will.
The US president has been calling for allies and other countries to help keep the vital Strait of Hormuz shipping lane open after Iran effectively closed it following the Middle East war.
However, many of the allies, who were not consulted on the joint US-Israel airstrikes against Tehran beforehand, have raised questions over the necessity of the war, which has ruffled Trump’s feathers.
Trump wrote in a ranting post on his Truth Social platform today: ‘Without the USA, Nato is a paper tiger!
‘They didn’t want to join the fight to stop a Nuclear Powered Iran.
‘Now that fight is Militarily WON, with very little danger for them, they complain about the high oil prices they are forced to pay, but don’t want to help open the Strait of Hormuz, a simple military maneuver that is the single reason for the high oil prices.
‘So easy for them to do, with so little risk. COWARDS, and we will REMEMBER!
It comes after the military alliance and its members were reluctant to start a multinational naval force to make the Strait, which carries 20% of global fuel, safe.
Fighting in the Gulf region escalated after Israeli missiles struck the South Pars gas field in Iran, the largest natural gas plant in the world.
Iran then launched attacks against Qatar’s Ras Laffan oil refinery.
The operations targeting gas infrastructure saw prices surge worldwide, including in the UK by a record-high 20% overnight.
Trump claimed that the US knew nothing about Israel’s plan to target South Pars, and he threatened to ‘blow up’ more Iranian gas fields if Qatar was targeted again.
The Iranian Army issued its own chilling warning today, with officials telling the US and Israel the regime is ‘keeping an eye’ on their ‘cowardly’ soldiers.
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