Countries plot ways to reopen Strait of Hormuz
Foreign ministers of nearly three dozen countries are meeting to apply diplomatic and political pressure to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping route blocked by the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran.
The United States was not among the countries attending Thursday’s meeting after President Donald Trump made clear that he did not think it was America’s job to secure the waterway closed by the US-Israeli war against Iran.
Trump also belittled America’s European allies for not supporting the war and repeated threats to remove the United States from NATO.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the virtual meeting, chaired by Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper, “will consider all feasible diplomatic and political measures we can take to restore freedom of navigation, guarantee the safety of stranded ships and seafarers and restart the movement of vital goods.”
Iran’s attacks on commercial shipping and the threat of more have halted nearly all traffic in the waterway connecting the Persian Gulf to the rest of the world’s oceans, closing a critical route for the world’s oil flow and causing oil prices to soar.
There have been 23 direct attacks on commercial ships in the Gulf since the war began on February 28, killing 11 crew members, according to maritime data firm Lloyd’s List Intelligence.
In a televised speech Wednesday night, Trump said countries that depend on oil flowing through the Strait of Hormuz “must seize it and treasure it” because the United States won’t do it.
No country appears willing to open the strait by force as it struggles with anger, and Iran can target ships with anti-ship missiles, drones, assault vehicles and mines.
But Starmer said planners from an unspecified number of countries would meet soon to work on how to ensure shipping security “after the wars stop”.
Meanwhile, 35 countries, including the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Canada, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates, signed a declaration demanding Iran halt attempts to close the strait and pledging to “contribute to appropriate efforts to ensure safe passage” through the waterway.
Thursday’s meeting is considered a first step, followed by “working-level meetings” of officials to hammer out details.
Starmer said resuming shipping “won’t be easy” and would require “a united front of military force and diplomatic activity” as well as partnership with the shipping industry.
The idea of an international effort has echoes of the international “coalition of the willing” led by Britain and France, assembled to bolster Ukraine’s security following a future ceasefire in that war.
The coalition is partly an effort to show the Trump administration that Europe is stepping up to do more for its own security; It is also strengthened by Trump’s new suggestion that the United States may leave NATO.
