Europe refused to send ships to force the IRGC to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, but is now forming a coalition against the United States. Photo courtesy of the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service.
When President Trump announced on Truth Social that the U.S. Navy would blockade “any and all Ships trying to enter, or leave, the Strait of Hormuz,” he also instructed the Navy to interdict vessels that had paid tolls to Iran and to destroy mines Iran had placed in the waterway.
CENTCOM subsequently clarified the actual scope: the blockade applies to vessels entering or departing Iranian ports and coastal areas and does not affect ships transiting the strait to and from non-Iranian ports. The blockade is therefore a naval embargo on Iranian trade, not a closure of the strait to international shipping generally.
Trump took the action in response to Iran’s “world extortion.” The IRGC had imposed a de facto toll regime in the strait. The Tehran regime said that vessels would be required to submit documentation, obtain clearance codes, and accept IRGC-escorted passage through a single controlled corridor. Trump’s goal was to stop Iran from policing the strait and profiting from its closure while the rest of the world absorbed the economic damage.
Neither the U.S. nor Israel is dependent on oil transiting the Strait of Hormuz. Around the globe, the U.S. is the primary enforcer of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), maintaining freedom of navigation for all countries. Trump’s request for Europe and other allies to support U.S. freedom-of-navigation patrols in the Strait of Hormuz was rejected.
Europe’s argument was that the U.S. took action against Iran unilaterally and therefore could not expect European support. President Trump’s position is that the U.S. has spent trillions defending Europe and keeping sea lanes open around the globe for 70 years, and it was reasonable to ask for reciprocity.
Instead, Europe blames Trump for the Hormuz closure, completely ignoring the fact that it is the IRGC, not the U.S., that has closed the strait.
Their refusal to help reopen it is a classic example of cutting off your nose to spite your face, since Europe’s energy supplies are at stake, not America’s. However, anger at Trump is mobilizing Europe to form a coalition to protect the Strait from America rather than from Iran.
At the same time, the IRGC warned that military vessels approaching the strait would be dealt with harshly. It is unclear whether the IRGC will allow European ships to counter American vessels. Either way, we are now in an upside-down world where Europe is siding with Iran, while Iran is threatening to sink European ships.
The Western media has also stopped reporting on atrocities committed by the IRGC, including executions of protesters during this ceasefire period. The media seems to have forgotten that over the past 47 years, Tehran has supported thousands of terrorist attacks through the IRGC and its proxies. The press has also stopped focusing on the missile and drone program that is currently threatening global shipping.
Not only is the world ignoring the IRGC’s repression of women, gays, and minorities, but the UN has nominated Iran to the Committee for Program and Coordination, a body that helps shape policy on human rights, disarmament, and terrorism prevention. UN Watch reported that the United States was the only member to dissociate itself from the decision.
They are also ignoring the fact that it is illegal under international law for the IRGC to charge a toll for the use of the Strait of Hormuz. Instead, they are fighting for their “right” to buy sanctioned oil and pay an illegal toll to Tehran.
The European response contains a significant contradiction. The EU has a legal ban on importing Iranian oil, reimposed under the sanctions snapback triggered in August 2025 by France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, which restored six UN Security Council resolutions covering nuclear and missile technology, arms, travel bans, asset freezes, and bans on the import, purchase, and transport of crude oil and petroleum products.
European ships cannot legally buy Iranian crude under EU law. The freedom of navigation Europe is mobilizing to defend therefore applies not to European purchasers but to third-party nations, primarily Asian buyers, transiting the strait without U.S. interdiction.
Canada, Australia, and New Zealand maintain similar frameworks, each prohibiting their citizens and entities from purchasing Iranian oil, with New Zealand adding a compulsory business registration scheme for any dealings with Iran in February 2026.
Peace talks in Islamabad collapsed after more than 21 hours of negotiations. Vice President Vance, who led the U.S. delegation, said Iran refused to commit to abandoning its nuclear ambitions.
Europe, however, now appears willing to tolerate both Iran’s nuclear program and its closure of the Strait of Hormuz, simply because Trump is taking action to resolve both problems permanently by removing the IRGC from power.
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