BRUSSELS

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said Wednesday that the Strait of Hormuz must be reopened and that the allies are working to determine the best way forward.

Rutte stressed the alliance's collective commitment to restoring safe passage through the strategic waterway.

"I have been in contact with many allies. We all agree, of course, that strait has to open up again," he told a news conference with Norway's Defense Minister Tore O. Sandvik and Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide during a visit to Exercise Cold Response, a Norwegian-led NATO exercise.

"And what I know is that allies are working together, discussing how to do that, what is the best way to do it? They are working on that collectively to find a way forward," he added.

The Strait of Hormuz has been at the center of global energy concerns since Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps announced its closure to most vessels in retaliation for US-Israeli attacks.

Before the conflict, 20 million barrels of oil went through the strait daily. Its disruption has pushed oil prices higher.

US President Donald Trump said Monday that "numerous countries" are preparing to assist the US in reopening the waterway but did not identify them, citing concerns they could be targeted by Iran.

But several European countries, including Germany, Italy, the UK and Belgium, refused calls from the US to deploy naval forces in the strait, stressing that they have no intention of engaging militarily in the escalating conflict with Iran.

Rutte also reiterated that Iran must not be allowed to develop nuclear or ballistic missile capabilities, stressing that the alliance is committed to ensuring those threats are severely degraded.

Tensions in the Middle East have escalated since the US and Israel launched a joint offensive on Iran on Feb. 28, which has killed around 1,300 people so far, including then-Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Iran has retaliated with drone and missile strikes targeting Israel, along with Jordan, Iraq, and Gulf countries, which it said host US military assets, causing casualties and damage to infrastructure while disrupting global markets and aviation.