Iran war: UK to host multi-nation meeting on Strait of Hormuz
Britain will today hold a virtual meeting of about 35 countries to discuss how to reopen the strategic Strait of Hormuz, which has been crippled by the Middle East war. Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced the meeting earlier on Wednesday, while a UK official told AFP the meeting would be virtual and held today. UK […]
Britain will today hold a virtual meeting of about 35 countries to discuss how to reopen the strategic Strait of Hormuz, which has been crippled by the Middle East war.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced the meeting earlier on Wednesday, while a UK official told AFP the meeting would be virtual and held today.
UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper will host the discussions, Starmer told reporters during a Downing Street news conference.
The meeting will “assess all viable diplomatic and political measures that we can take to restore freedom of navigation, guarantee the safety of trapped ships and seafarers and resume the movement of vital commodities”, he added.
“Following that meeting, we will also convene our military planners to look at how we can marshal our capabilities and make the strait accessible and safe after the fighting has stopped,” he added.
The discussions will include countries that recently signed a statement saying they were ready “to contribute to appropriate efforts to ensure safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz”, said Starmer.
Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the Netherlands are among those to have signed it.
Iran has virtually closed the vital strait since the US-Israeli strikes that started the war on February 28, causing global oil and gas prices to soar.
A fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas passes through the strait in peacetime.
“I do have to level with people on this. This (reopening) will not be easy,” Starmer said.
The UK leader also backed NATO following renewed criticism of the eight-decade-old alliance by US President Donald Trump.
“NATO is the single most effective military alliance the world has ever seen, and it has kept us safe for many decades, and we are fully committed to NATO,” Starmer said.
Trump told Britain’s Telegraph newspaper in an article published Wednesday that NATO was a “paper tiger”.
Asked whether he would reconsider US membership, he replied: “Oh yes, I would say (it’s) beyond reconsideration,” the paper reported.
Last month, Trump told the Financial Times that it would be “very bad for the future of NATO” if members fail to help reopen the vital waterway.
On Tuesday, he said that countries which had not joined the war but were struggling with fuel shortages should “go get your own oil” in the Strait of Hormuz, adding that the US would not help them.
Latest on Strait of Hormuz shipping blockade
In total, 27 commercial ships, including 13 tankers, have been attacked or reported incidents since March 1 in the Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz, or the Gulf of Oman, according to British marine security agency UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO).
In the latest incident, a tanker leased to Qatar’s state-owned energy company was struck by an Iranian missile in the Gulf country’s territorial waters, officials there said Wednesday.
They said 21 crew members were evacuated without any casualties.
UKMTO said the vessel had been struck by “two projectiles” north of Ras Laffan, the world’s largest LNG hub.
It noted “one projectile caused a fire, which was extinguished, and another “remains unexploded within the vessel’s engine room”.
Since the conflict began, at least 11 seafarers or dock workers have died in incidents in the region, according to the International Maritime Organisation (IMO).
The UN agency updated that tally Tuesday, after formally confirming the deaths of three seafarers aboard the Thai bulk carrier the Mayuree Naree, which was attacked while transiting the strait on March 11.
Meanwhile, just seven vessels crossed the strait on Tuesday and up to 1500 GMT Wednesday, according to maritime intelligence firm Kpler.
Since March 1, commodities carriers have made 218 crossings, according to Kpler data, a 94 per cent decrease compared to peacetime.
Of these, 135 were by oil tankers and gas carriers, and most were travelling east out of the strait.
Six out of 10 crossings involved ships coming from or heading to Iran. The United Arab Emirates accounted for 22 per cent, India 15 per cent, China 14 per cent and Saudi Arabia nine per cent.
The channel in peacetime sees around 120 daily transits, according to shipping industry intelligence site Lloyd’s List.
Bloomberg data showed on Wednesday that 2,190 vessels sent transponder signals in the Gulf west of the Strait of Hormuz over the past day.
Of those, 327 were oil and gas vessels, including 12 very large gas carriers and 50 very large crude carriers.
Recent crossings appeared to have mainly used a route apparently approved by Iran around Larak Island just off the country’s coast.
Leading shipping journal Lloyd’s List on Tuesday estimated that at least 48 ships had used it since last week, the majority with links to Iran.
The Revolutionary Guards said the route was closed to vessels travelling to and from ports linked to Iran’s “enemies”.
In total, 27 commercial ships, including 13 tankers, have been attacked or reported incidents since March 1 in the Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz, or the Gulf of Oman,