BBC Expert Explains Why Trump's Plea For International Help In Hormuz Is Pointless

A BBC foreign affairs expert has delivered a reality check to Donald Trump over his call for other countries to send warships to help open up the Strait of Hormuz.

Frank Gardner, the corporation’s security correspondent, said “no amount of navies” will help to release the “chokehold” Iran has on the vital waterway.

Around one-fifth of the global oil supply passes through the Strait, meaning its effective closure is having a devastating effect on the world economy.

Trump has repeatedly called on countries from around the world – including the UK – to send ships to ward off Iranian drone and missile attacks on tankers.

But speaking on Radio 4′s Today programme, Gardner said that would effectively be a waste of time, even if America’s allies wanted to help.

He said: “Nobody’s particularly keen on this, in fact they’re kind of annoyed about it because this was a war of choice that Israel and the United States chose to do. It’s not one that was backed either by Gulf states in this part of the world, nor by America’s Nato partners.

“There’s a kind of collective heavy sigh ‘OK, clearly you didn’t plan for this, it’s got unintended consequences that maybe you should have thought of when you started this, now you’re asking us to help clear up the mess’ and people are not particularly keen to put their navies in harm’s way.”

Garner added: “Iran has really got a chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz at the moment, and that’s only going to stop by negotiation. No amount of navies are going to stop that.

“The real problem is simply that Iran controls the coast between the north of the gulf and the Strait of Hormuz and they can attack whatever shipping they want, unless they agree not to.”