PENTAGON, Washington — While urging its North Atlantic Treat Organization (NATO) partners and even the People's Republic of China (PRoC) to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz, United States president Donald Trump is calling on countries including China, France, Japan, South Korea and United Kingdom to send ships to escort oil tankers plying through the critical waterway.

Since US and Israeli missile attacks on Iran, the Islamic Republic had effectively closed as a retaliatory move against its enemies with threats of sinking any foreign ship passing through the Strait, except those carrying China's flag. Major economic players began releasing oil reserves early this week to ward off supply disruptions due to the closure.

Consequently, global 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. Crude prices were hovering around $100 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 day".

Trump said the United States was in discussions with Iran but he hinted that he believes Tehran is not ready for a deal to end the war, this despite the Islamic republic's foreign minister denying earlier of any talks with Washington.

In the meantime, to rationalize his call asking for escorts to oil tankers passing the Hormuz, the US president pointed out that "it's only appropriate that people who are the beneficiaries of the Strait will help to make sure that nothing bad happens there."