Emirates Iran US Israel

President Donald Trump says he has “demanded” that about seven countries heavily reliant on Middle East oil join a coalition to police the Strait of Hormuz. About one-fifth of the world’s traded oil flows through the waterway. Trump spoke while answering reporters’ questions as he flew back to Washington from Florida aboard Air Force One. The president declined to name the countries the administration is negotiating with to protect of the strait. “I’m demanding that these countries come in and protect their own territory, because it is their own territory,” Trump said about the strait

U.S. President Donald Trump says he has pressured around seven countries to send warships to keep the Strait of Hormuz open as fears of a global energy crisis persist and Iranian attacks and threats have choked off shipping in the vital waterway. The U.S. and Israel continued striking targets in Iran on Monday, while Israel has intensified operations against Iran-backed militants in Lebanon, where more than 1 million people have been displaced. U.N. peacekeepers say Israeli ground forces have massed near the border. Iran has responded with drone and missile attacks across the region. Officials say the war has killed at least 1,300 people in Iran, 880 in Lebanon and 12 in Israel.