West Asia war: Trump urges NATO, China to help reopen Strait of Hormuz as oil prices surge

President Donald Trump urged NATO partners and China to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz the critical conduit for crude that Iran has effectively closed as major economic players began releasing oil reserves on Monday to ward off supply disruptionsGlobal oil prices have surged by 40 to 50 percent after Iran choked off the waterway and attacked energy and shipping industry targets in the Gulf in retaliation for the USIsraeli war against the Islamic republicCrude prices were hovering around USD100 on Monday as the Middle East war entered its third week with Israel saying it still has thousands of targets in Iran where it was also identifying new targets every dayTrump said the United States was in discussions with Iran but that Tehran was not ready for a deal to end the war although the Islamic republics foreign minister had earlier denied any talks with Washington I dont think theyre ready But they are getting pretty close Trump saidThe US president had called on countries including China France Japan South Korea and Britain at the weekend to send ships to escort tankers through the straitIts only appropriate that people who are the beneficiaries of the strait will help to make sure that nothing bad happens there Trump told the Financial Times on Sunday Unlike the United States Europe and China are heavily dependent on the Gulf for oil importsTrump threatened to delay a planned summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping later this month if Beijing does not assist with reopening the straitHe also warned that no response or a negative reply to his request would be very bad for the future of NATO But Tokyo and Canberra both said they were not planning deploymentsIran warningTrumps comments came after Iran warned other countries against getting involved in the war which has spread across the Middle EastIn a phone conversation with his French counterpart JeanNoel Barrot Tehrans top diplomat Abbas Araghchi called on other countries to refrain from any action that could lead to escalation and expansion of the conflict Arguing that the US security umbrella in the region was inviting rather than deterring trouble Araghchi on X urged neighbouring countries to expel foreign aggressorsIran has launched waves of attacks on countries in the Middle East that host US forces and Italys military said a drone attack at Ali Al Salem airbase in Kuwait which hosts both US and Italian forces destroyed an unmanned aircraft belonging to Italy but caused no casualtiesItalys foreign minister Antonio Tajani sought to play down the attack the second on an Italian base in the Middle East this week insisting We are not at war with anyoneIraqi authorities meanwhile said rockets wounded five people at Baghdads airport which houses a US diplomatic facility while Irans Revolutionary Guards said about 700 missiles and 3600 drones had been fired at US and Israeli targets so farSaudi Arabia intercepted more than 60 drones since midnight according to a tally of defence ministry figures released on Monday while Dubai airport suspended flights briefly after a dronerelated incident sparked a fire nearbyAnd French President Emmanuel Macron told Irans President Masoud Pezeshkian it was unacceptable to target French interests after an Iraniandesigned drone killed a French soldier in Iraqs Kurdistan regionThe war has also spread to Lebanon where Israel launched a new strike on Beiruts southern suburbs late on SundayEnergy marketsOn the economic front the International Energy Agency said members will begin releasing 400 million barrels of oil from their strategic reserves with Asia Oceania nations to make stocks available immediately and Europe and the Americas follow in the weeks to comeJapan which depends on the Middle East for 95 percent of its oil imports said Monday in a notice in its official government gazette that the level of oil reserves in the country is being lowered The issuance of the notice compels managers of oil reserves to release part of their stockpile to meet the new standardThe blockade of Hormuz has been felt across the globe with Australia officials urging the public against pricegouging and panic buying as prices soar while India restaurants were forced to adapt their menus to save cooking gasOn the outskirts of Sydney landscaper Emma Futterleib who drives up to 500 km a week told AFP theres definitely some penny pinching going on It hurts the budget thats for sure she said adding she was trying to be a bit careful on how much we are spending on groceriesIn Tehran some residents sought to restore some normalcy at the weekend compared to the start of the war on February 28Traffic was busier than last week and some cafes and restaurants had reopened as had more than a third of stalls in the Tajrish bazaar a popular shopping hub with Nowruz the Persian New Year just days awaySome shoppers queued at ATMs to withdraw cash Online operations at Bank Melli one of the countrys largest had been paralysed in recent daysIt was a similar story outside the capital In an interview from Tonekabon a city in Mazandaran province on the Caspian Sea 49yearold Ali told AFP that shops were open and crowded despite steep price rises Only the main square is closed every night and government demonstrations take place he said adding that only Irans domestic intranet was working without outside connectionsMore than 1200 people have been killed by US and Israeli strikes according to Iranian health ministry figures that could not be independently verified The UN refugee agency says up to 32 million people have been displaced in IranThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever