Trump calls on allies to seize Hormuz as frustration mounts

U.S. President Donald Trump called on other nations to wrest control of the Strait of Hormuz as Iran maintained missile fire across the Persian Gulf, expressing his frustration that the monthlong war remains unresolved.

Countries that can’t get energy supplies due to the effective closure of the vital waterway should “go to the Strait and just TAKE IT,” Trump said in a social-media post on Tuesday.

“You’ll have to start learning how to fight for yourself” as the U.S. “won’t be there to help you anymore,” he added, the latest sign he’s looking to exit a conflict that’s triggered a surge in oil and gas prices and stoked fears of a global economic crisis. “Go get your own oil!” he added.

Stocks climbed and oil prices fell on hopes that both U.S. and Iran might be looking for a way out of the war. WTI Crude was trading around $101 a barrel, travel stocks climbed and the S&P Energy Index turned negative, giving up an earlier gain of as much as 1.4%.

Those moves came after Iran’s state news agency reported a phone call between European Union Council President Antonio Costa and President Masoud Pezeskhian, who said the Islamic Republic has “the necessary will to end this war,” but only with guarantees “to prevent the recurrence of aggression.” It wasn’t immediately clear if his comments represent a change in Tehran’s position.

Tehran kept up strikes on Israel and countries around the Persian Gulf, including the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, with one attack hitting a large Kuwaiti oil tanker off the coast of Dubai. That was one of the most significant assaults on shipping since the U.S. and Israel began bombarding the Islamic Republic on Feb. 28.

The U.S.-Israeli alliance continued to strike Iran, with little sign of an imminent breakthrough in diplomatic efforts to end the conflict.

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said that talks to end the war with Iran are “gaining strength” and the U.S. military would maintain pressure to compel Tehran to make a deal. A “regime change has occurred” in Iran, he added, without saying who the U.S. is negotiating with.

China and Pakistan issued a five-point initiative aimed at restoring peace, starting with an immediate ceasefire.

Trump took aim at the U.K. and France in social media posts, bemoaning a lack of assistance from Washington’s historical allies in the conflict. NATO countries have broadly resisted getting involved, with Spain closing its airspace to U.S. jets and Italy denying a U.S. military aircraft permission to land at a base in Sicily, according to a person familiar with the matter.

U.S. gasoline prices on Tuesday climbed above an average of $4 a gallon for the first time since August 2022, adding pressure on Trump with midterm elections just months away.

If Hormuz remains shut for a prolonged period, many energy analysts and traders say oil prices would need to climb much higher to bring supply and demand into balance. Crude could surge to as much as $200 a barrel if Hormuz — through which about a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas supplies typically flow — isn’t opened in six to eight weeks, according to energy-market consultancy FGE NexantECA.

Trump has repeatedly vacillated between saying a deal with Iran is imminent and warning he’s prepared to intensify the U.S. military campaign. On Monday, he threatened to target Iran’s energy infrastructure and water desalination plants, which could potentially constitute a war crime under the Geneva Conventions, if the strait stays shut.

He’s previously given a deadline of April 6 for Iran to open the waterway.

The U.S. military said over the weekend that about 3,500 sailors and Marines have arrived in the Middle East on an amphibious assault ship. It’s unclear if Trump plans to use them and any ground operation would be highly risky. His administration has signaled to allies in the past week that it has no immediate plans for a land invasion of Iran.

Israel’s military said on Tuesday it’s prepared to sustain operations “for weeks to come.”

Iran has consistently denied peace negotiations are progressing and rejected a 15-point plan from Trump sent via Pakistan last week. Iran says it wants war reparations, recognition of its control over shipping traffic through Hormuz and pledges from the U.S. and Israel that they won’t attack again.

The war is threatening to cause economic damage around the world, with the near-closing of the Hormuz strait choking supplies of energy, fertilizer and other critical commodities. That’s led to fears of stagflation, or a combination of higher inflation and slower growth.

The conflict could wipe out nearly $200 billion worth of economic growth across the Middle East, a new United Nations study found.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox News on Monday that Washington is “going to retake control” of Hormuz, ensuring safe navigation “through U.S. escorts or a multinational escort.” The U.S. announced such a plan in the early days of the war, though it hasn’t yet been executed.

Pakistan is considering options that include allowing other ships to ferry vital cargoes through Hormuz under its flag, after Iran said it would allow 20 of the nation’s vessels safe passage.

More than 4,750 people have been killed in the war so far, roughly three-quarters of them in Iran. A U.S.-Israeli airstrike on the town of Mahallat in central Iran on Tuesday killed 11 people, the semi-official Tasnim news reported, citing a local security official.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz reiterated a plan to occupy a zone in southern Lebanon as part of its parallel war against Iran-aligned Hezbollah militia, in which more than 1,200 people have been killed. About 600,000 residents who have been forced to leave the area will not be allowed to return until the safety of Israel’s northern communities is assured, he said.

Tehran-backed Houthi militants in Yemen entered the war over the weekend, launching missiles at Israel. Iran is pushing the group to prepare for a renewed campaign against Red Sea shipping, contingent upon any further escalation by the U.S. in its war on the Islamic Republic, according to European officials familiar with the matter.

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—With assistance from Omar Tamo, Golnar Motevalli, Dan Williams, Kateryna Kadabashy, Eltaf Najafizada and Matthew Griffin.