Mubasher: President Donald Trump on Monday hinted that the US military may step back from securing the strategic Strait of Hormuz, amid heightened tensions between Washington and Tehran.

President Trump called upon countries to protect their own crude supplies and other trade shipments passing through the world's most sensitive oil-transportation choke point, while questioning why the US has provided protection over many years for “zero compensation.”

“China gets 91% of its oil from the [Strait], Japan 62%, and many other countries likewise,” he said via Twitter.

“We don’t even need to be there in that the US has just become [by far] the largest producer of Energy anywhere in the world,” he added.

It is worth notinh that the US sourced 1.58 million barrels per day (bpd) from Gulf countries last year, which represents around 16% of total petroleum import, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA).

Trump’s series of tweets came several weeks after tensions escalated in the Middle East as two oil carriers were attacked close to the Strait of Hormuz in the Gulf of Oman.

Washington accused Iran of perpetuating the attacks, from which Tehran distanced itself.

Later on, after Iran announced that it had downed a US surveillance drone, allegedly because of breaching Iranian airspace, President Trump claimed that he called off an airstrike against Iran.

“The US request for Iran is very simple - No Nuclear Weapons and No Further Sponsoring of Terror,” he said.