MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
President Trump launched the war against Iran without building a coalition among U.S. allies. Now the president is asking those allies to help end Iran's effective shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz, and many of them are rejecting Trump's request. To talk this through, I am joined by NPR national security correspondent Greg Myre. Hey, Greg.
GREG MYRE, BYLINE: Hi, Mary Louise.
KELLY: And White House correspondent Franco Ordoñez - hi, Franco.
FRANCO ORDOÑEZ, BYLINE: Hi there.
KELLY: You kick us off, Franco. President Trump wants other countries to help make the Gulf safe for oil tankers to pass through. Are other countries inclined to help?
ORDOÑEZ: Yeah. I was with him this weekend in Florida when he said he was actually demanding that seven countries send warships to help escort these oil vessels through the critical choke point. And he called on specifically China, France, the U.K., Japan and South Korea to help. Today, he teased that they'll be announcing a number of countries who are going to help, but he would not name any specific ones. But he also acknowledged that some longtime allies don't want to get involved, and he was clearly not happy about that.
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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Numerous countries have told me they're on the way. Some are very enthusiastic about it, and some aren't. And some are countries that we've helped for many, many years. We've protected them from horrible outside sources, and they weren't that enthusiastic.
KELLY: Franco, explain why U.S. allies are not that enthusiastic - to use the president's words. Is this because they are opposed to the war or because they think this particular mission is dangerous or because President Trump has been insulting them regularly?
ORDOÑEZ: Yeah, Mary Louise, I think it's a mix of all of those. I mean, the German defense minister, though, declared that this is not our war. We did not start it, adding that he wanted a diplomatic solution. The British prime minister, Keir Starmer, he said at a news conference that the U.K. will not be drawn into a wider war, despite any political pressure. Trump, again, is particularly unhappy with the U.K. So definitely some political differences, but Trump also seemed to indicate some security concerns. You know, he talked about the Iranian navy and air force having very little firepower left. He seems to be aimed at reassuring these allies that there's only a small risk for helping them out.
KELLY: Greg, just to back us up. Walk me through how oil tanker escorts have worked in past because the U.S. has done it. Remind us when and how.
MYRE: Yeah, that's exactly right. Iran and Iraq fought this brutal war through most of the 1980s and both those countries attacked the ships and oil facilities of the other side. And by 1987, the U.S. agreed to launch a naval convoy to protect Kuwaiti oil tankers from Iranian attacks. U.S. flags were raised on Kuwaiti oil tankers, and the U.S. Navy ships escorted these tankers from one end of the Gulf to the other. This is 600 miles or so. And overall, this went very well. It achieved what it was trying to do, but there were some serious problems along the way. During this operation, an Iraqi plane mistakenly fired on a U.S. ship, the USS Stark. The Iraqis thought this was an Iranian ship, and 37 U.S. sailors were killed.
KELLY: Which dozens of U.S. sailors being killed is obviously not something anyone wants to repeat, and could this perhaps even be more complicated now?
MYRE: Absolutely. And one key reason is simply drones. They just weren't a factor in the 1980s. Now Iran has them by the thousands, and it's probably impossible to eliminate all of them and fully extinguish this threat. Iran can easily launch drones from land and target ships in the narrow Strait of Hormuz. It's just 21 miles wide at the narrowest point. And Trump says the U.S. has wiped out Iran's mine-laying boats, more than 30 of them. But Iran has these small speedboats or patrol boats that they could use to attack as well. So the U.S. is inflicting this major damage on Iran's traditional weapons, but it'll be very difficult to account for all the small mobile weapons, particularly fast boats and drones. And just one final key point on that - this would be so much larger than it was before. Today, there are more than 1,000 ships in the Gulf trying to get into the Gulf or out of the Gulf. And the U.S. has around 20 Navy ships in the region.
KELLY: Franco, it would seem President Trump has created and now finds himself in a tough situation. Was this avoidable?
ORDOÑEZ: Yeah. I mean, clearly, the U.S. made a choice to go at this alone with Israel. And with - as with so many other global issues, Trump moved forward with little to no consultation with European allies. And those allies were very surprised and have since kind of taken this defensive posture, both tactically and politically. So I think you do have to wonder if the U.S. had consulted with these allies before, would such an ask that he's making now be different? You know, maybe he never would have gotten the buy in, but if he did, you know, I think you can say, it could be different.
KELLY: Greg bottom line, can President Trump end this war before he finds a way to reopen the Strait of Hormuz?
MYRE: Well, that's looking increasingly difficult. Initially, it seemed he could end this war more or less when he wanted. Now he's looking at a global economic problem that didn't exist before this war was launched and one that would be very hard to walk away from. So as of today, Iran controls the oil flow and could continue to exert this control if Trump decided to end the war and just pull out U.S. troops.
KELLY: All right, NPR correspondents Greg Myre and Franco Ordoñez, thanks to you both.
MYRE: Sure thing, Mary Louise.
ORDOÑEZ: Thanks, Mary Louise. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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