By Bo Erickson, Maayan Lubell and Parisa Hafezi WASHINGTON/TEL AVIV/DUBAI, March 16 (Reuters) - Several U.S. allies rebuffed Donald Trump's call on Monday to send warships to escort shipping through the Strait of Hormuz,

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump may delay his China trip due to the Iran war, but Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Monday it’s not to pressure Beijing on the Strait of Hormuz. Bessent said any delay to Trump’s trip to Beijing would not be because of disagreements over the Iran war or efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

President Donald Trump said Monday that some U.S. allies are not willing to join a coalition to protect tankers in the Strait of Hormuz.

President Trump urges allies like China, UK, France to send warships to secure Strait of Hormuz amid Iran war, vows intense US strikes.

“It is in our interest to keep the Strait of Hormuz open, and that’s why we are also discussing what we can do in this regard from the European side,” Kaja Kallas, the EU’s foreign policy chief, said Monday ahead of a meeting of the 27-nation bloc’s foreign ministers in Brussels.

"Responding to coastal launch sites as they emerge would require coordinated strike operations ashore and perhaps marines — the latter a clear escalation risk."

Newt Gingrich shared an explosive idea to re-open the Strait of Hormuz that has been essentially closed to shipping by Iranian attacks and mines.

The US and Iran signaled no letup in fighting as President Donald Trump dangled the possibility of negotiations to end a conflict that’s brought shipping in the strategic Strait of Hormuz to a near standstill and upended energy markets.