A NATO operation off the coast of Iran is considered very unlikely, especially because the Strait of Hormuz is not part of the alliance’s territory and the USA cannot therefore invoke the obligation to provide assistance under Article 5. An operation there would therefore be a so-called “out-of-area” operation, which all allies would have to agree to.
The Wall Street Journal, citing U.S. officials, reported that the American government was expected to announce this week that several countries would form a coalition to escort ships through the strait. The USA and potential comrades-in-arms were still discussing whether these missions should begin before or after the end of the war.
Poland’s Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski initially reacted very cautiously to Trump’s proposal. “If a request is made to NATO to discuss protecting the Strait of Hormuz, we will consider it out of respect and sympathy for our American ally,” he said. He added that President Karol Nawrocki had already ruled out taking part in a military operation. The center-left government of Prime Minister Donald Tusk, which often clashes with the right-wing conservative head of state, also takes this view. “To be clear: Poland has no plans to take part in such a mission,” Sikorski emphasized in the afternoon.
The CDU foreign policy expert Norbert Röttgen wrote on X that the USA alone had the means to quickly reopen the Strait of Hormuz by forcing the Iranian economy to collapse. “This goal can be achieved through a complete embargo on Iranian oil,” he wrote in English. Blocking all shipping traffic in and out of Iranian ports should be possible thanks to the massive US Navy presence.
