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UK to host meeting of 35 countries on reopening Strait of Hormuz
(AL-JAZEERA) The United Kingdom will convene talks with dozens of countries on reopening the Strait of Hormuz, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has announced, as the US-Israeli war on Iran has effectively shuttered the critical Gulf waterway.
Speaking during a news conference on Wednesday, Starmer said UK Foreign Minister Yvette Cooper would host a virtual meeting of 35 countries on Thursday to assess measures to reopen the strait “after the fighting has stopped.”
Countries are grappling with the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a Gulf waterway through which about one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquified natural gas supplies transit [File: AFP]
“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,” Starmer added.
Countries around the world have raised serious concerns about Iran’s effective closure of the strait, through which about one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquified natural gas supplies transit, amid US-Israeli attacks on Iran and Iranian attacks on targets across the Middle East.
The closure has sent global energy prices soaring and pushed nations to announce that they would release some of their strategic oil and gas reserves in an effort to lessen the crisis.
Starmer said on Wednesday that countries that recently signed a statement saying they were ready “to contribute to appropriate efforts to ensure safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz” would take part in this week’s talks.
In addition to the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the Netherlands are among the countries to have signed it.
“I do have to level with people on this. This [reopening] will not be easy,” Starmer said.
The UK and other European countries have faced condemnation from US President Donald Trump, who has accused them of both failing to take action to reopen the strait and not providing sufficient support to Washington in its war effort.
On Tuesday, Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform that “all those countries that can’t get jet fuel because of the Strait of Hormuz, like the United Kingdom” should either buy from the US or “build up some delayed courage, go to the Strait, and just TAKE IT”.
“You’ll have to start learning how to fight for yourself, the U.S.A. won’t be there to help you anymore, just like you weren’t there for us. Iran has been, essentially, decimated. The hard part is done. Go get your own oil!” Trump said.
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