Donald Trump tore into Nato allies as “cowards” over their lack of support for the US-Israeli war against Iran.
"Without the U.S.A., NATO IS A PAPER TIGER!" the US president lashed out in a social media post, having previously singled out Britain for particularly heavy criticism.
Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Australia, as well as Japan, have refused to jump to his call for them to send warships for a multi-national maritime operation to re-open the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump’s war has already wreaked economic turmoil around the world, sparking the biggest ever oil supply shock, and left thousands dead.
In his latest outburst against Nato allies on Truth Social, the US president said: "Now that fight is Militarily WON, with very little danger for them, they complain about the high oil prices they are forced to pay, but don’t want to help open the Strait of Hormuz, a simple military maneuver that is the single reason for the high oil prices. So easy for them to do, with so little risk," he wrote.
"COWARDS, and we will REMEMBER!"
But the US president was looking increasingly isolated, with his tirades likely to only harm diplomatic ties with key partners.
Earlier, Tehran accused the UK of participating in “aggression” by allowing US forces to use UK bases for airstrikes on Iran.
US bombers have been flying out of RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire for what the UK Government insists are “defensive” missions such as targeting Iranian missile sites threatening Gulf states where nearly 200,000 British citizens still remain.
But the Tehran regime, some of whose leaders regard Britain as the “Little Satan” supporting America, condemned the stance taken by Sir Keir Starmer’s government.
In a conversation with Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi criticised the use of RAF bases by US aircraft as participation in “aggression”.
Warning Britain against co-operating with the US and Israel on their military action, he stated: “These actions will certainly be considered participation in the aggression and will be recorded in the history of bilateral relations.”
“At the same time, we reserve our inherent right to defend the sovereignty and independence of our country,,” he added, according to reports from Iran.
Amid warnings that America could be dragged into a “quagmire” in Iran, Cabinet minister Emma Reynolds defended the UK’s position on the military action.
“They (UK bases) are only being used for defensive purposes,” Environment Secretary Ms Reynolds told Sky News.
Pressed that Tehran was not making that distinction, she added: “With respect I’m not on your programme to negotiate with the Iranian regime.
“What I’m stating is the Government’s position which is our UK bases are only being used by US or our allies to defend our own people in the region.”
Sir Keir has angered Trump by refusing to deploy warships for a maritime mission to re-open the Strait of Hormuz and for not allowing UK bases to be used by US forces for the initial and offensive airstrikes on Iran.
But ministers have branded the US president’s war as illegal and accused him of having no plan for the military action.
As the war raged on, Israel and Iran launched fresh attacks on each other on Friday.
The airstrikes came a day after Tehran struck an Israeli oil refinery and Trump warned Israel against further attacks on the Iranian South Pars gas field shared with Qatar.
Israel struck Tehran, targeting the "infrastructure of the Iranian terror regime", the military said in a brief statement.
Iran fired a barrage of missiles at Israel, the Israeli military said, triggering air raid sirens in Tel Aviv as explosions from air defence interceptors echoed across the city.
Bahrain, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates said they were dealing with new missile and drone attacks.
The war has killed thousands, spread to neighbouring nations in the Gulf, and hit the global economy.
In Britain, the cost of petrol has been rising, as well as oil for home heating, with millions of households facing energy bill hikes of hundreds of pounds if the war drags on for months.
Amid the growing economic fall-out, which saw oil rising above $113 (£85) a barrel this week, Ms Reynolds gave the strongest signal yet that the Government was considering extending the freeze on fuel duty.
“We have frozen fuel duty twice and we have got a stable economy,” she said.
Oil prices fell on Friday as Western nations and Japan offered to help secure safe passage once the war eases for ships through the strait,normally the conduit for a fifth of the world's oil supplies, and the US outlined moves to boost oil output.
Trump, politically vulnerable to rising fuel prices among his core voters ahead of November's mid-term elections, has lashed out at allies who have responded cautiously to his demands that they help re-open the strait.
He said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would not repeat the attack on energy infrastructure. "I told him, 'Don't do that', and he won't do that," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.
Netanyahu later said Israel had acted alone in bombing Iran's South Pars gas field, though some intelligence sources suggested the plan had been shared with the Trump administration in advance.
