Washington, March 17 (QNA) - US President Donald Trump on Tuesday confirmed that NATO countries have balked at participating in the ongoing war in the Middle East.

Posting on Truth Social, Trump said: "The United States has been informed by most of our NATO allies that they do not wish to participate in the military operation conducted by Washington in Iran".

This comes after French President Emmanuel Macron earlier asserted that his country isn't prepared to participate in operations to secure the Strait of Hormuz under the current circumstances, denying remarks by his US counterpart in which Trump expressed Paris' readiness to assist in the operation.

In a related development, Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, Joseph Kent, announced his resignation in protest of Washington's entry into the war in the Middle East, becoming the first senior US official to resign from the Trump administration over this decision. (QNA)