The United States has formally asked Germany, along with France and Britain, to take part in providing security for trade activities in the Strait of Hormuz, the US embassy in Berlin said on Tuesday.

“We’ve formally asked Germany to join France and the UK to help secure the Straits of Hormuz [sic] and combat Iranian aggression,” embassy spokeswoman Tamara Sternberg-Greller said.

“Members of the German government have been clear that freedom of navigation should be protected,” she said. “Our question is, protected by whom?”

Iran’s retaliatory seizure of the British-flagged Stena Impero and the Panama-flagged MT Riah in the Strait of Hormuz – a strategic shipping route between Iran and Oman – prompted Britain to propose sending a maritime security mission to the region.