Leaders of NATO member states gathered in Ankara for a summit focused on boosting defence spending and extending military aid to Ukraine. The meeting, however, was overshadowed by growing pressure from the United States for European allies to join efforts to secure the Strait of Hormuz. The strategic waterway, through which a third of the world's seaborne oil passes, was effectively closed by Iran for months during heightened hostilities with the US and Israel. Prior to the summit, Washington formally requested that NATO allies contribute naval forces to protect shipping lanes in the strait. Several European members rejected the proposal, stating that the conflict involving Iran falls outside the alliance's mandate.
David Des Roches, professor at the Thayer Marshall Institute and former NATO operations director in the Office of the US Secretary of Defense, said the US is seeking to frame the issue as one of global maritime security rather than direct involvement in the war on Iran. Alam Saleh, senior lecturer of Iranian studies at Australian National University, noted that Iran views any NATO naval presence near its coast as an act of aggression. Patrick Bury, defence and security specialist at the University of Bath and former NATO analyst, added that the division within the alliance reflects deeper strategic disagreements about the scope of NATO's role beyond its traditional region. No formal decision on the Strait of Hormuz was reached during the summit. The next steps will depend on bilateral talks between the US and individual allies, rather than collective NATO action.
The US pushed NATO to militarise the Strait of Hormuz despite clear resistance from key European members. This exposes a strategic rift within the alliance over what constitutes a shared security interest. NATO's refusal to act collectively weakens Washington's attempt to frame the conflict as a global maritime issue. The outcome shows that without consensus, the alliance cannot be used to legitimise unilateral US objectives.
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