More than 40 countries gathered to discuss “every possible diplomatic,T? s? tr?n ??u World Cup economic and coordinated measure” to pressurise Iran into reopening the strait of Hormuz, the UK foreign secretary has said.
After chairing a virtual summit on Thursday, Yvette Cooper said coordinated action was needed as Iran’s “reckless strikes” on international shipping and efforts to “hijack the global economy” were hitting nations from across the globe “who played no part in this conflict”.
She said: “That’s affecting petrol prices and mortgage rates here in the UK, but also jet fuel across the world, fertiliser to Africa, and also gas to Asia. So countries across the world are being impacted, and that’s why we’re so determined to see every possible diplomatic, economic and coordinated measure to get the strait reopened.”
Whitehall sources said there were discussions at the summit about getting more countries from the global south to put economic pressure on Iran to make sure it does not profit from closing the strait. They said the scale of condemnation of Iran’s actions from countries that have previously been unwilling to resort to sanctions was striking.
One option being examined by the UN is whether a humanitarian shipping corridor can be opened to make sure fertiliser gets through to prevent food shortages in poorer countries.
As well as this week’s meeting, there will be a further military discussion next week on whether it may be possible to clear sea mines and rescue trapped ships in the strait of Hormuz.
The meeting will be convened by Britain’s Permanent Joint Headquarters, where all its overseas military operations are planned, based in Northwood, north-west London, but some international leaders are expected to join virtually.
The discussions took place without the US, which began the war on Iran. At the summit, the UK, France, Germany, Australia and some Gulf nations were exploring what could be done to restore access to the maritime route.
The US president, Donald Trump, has suggested countries that rely on the strait should “build up some delayed courage” and “just grab it”.
However, Keir Starmer has said unblocking the lane, which carries 10-25% of the world’s oil and gas supplies, would “not be easy”.
Trump mocked the prime minister about Britain’s actions over the strait at an Easter lunch on Wednesday, saying: “I said ‘you have two, old broken-down aircraft carriers, do you think you could send them over’?” Impersonating Starmer, Trump added: “Ohhh I’ll have to ask my team. I said ‘you’re the prime minister, you don’t have to’.
Highlighting the importance of the strait, Cooper pointed to World Bank predictions that a continued blockage could push 9 million people worldwide into food insecurity “alongside the unsustainable increases that we have seen in oil prices and food prices hitting households and businesses in every corner of the world”.
Australia, which has faced soaring petrol prices and mounting concerns about shortages, was represented on the call by the foreign minister, Penny Wong. She said the government in Canberra wanted to see coordinated diplomatic efforts to reopen the strait.
“Iran’s de facto closure of the strait, coupled with its attacks on commercial vessels, civilian infrastructure, including oil and gas facilities, is causing unprecedented energy supply shocks and impacting oil and fuel prices.
“Iran is deliberately inflicting economic pain on communities worldwide, including the Indo-Pacific, with the costs borne disproportionately by the most vulnerable.”
Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative leader, said on Thursday that Trump must not abandon “a mess that he’s made” in the Middle East by leaving other countries to reopen the strait.
Speaking during a visit to north-east England, she said: “If I was speaking to him, I’d be saying: ‘If you break it, you own it.’ That’s what Colin Powell, a former secretary of state in the US, had said. ‘If you break it, you own it.’
“He started this war. We said that if he needed support against Iran … use our airbases. That’s one of the things that Britain has done. He should now not be abandoning a mess that he’s made, if he thinks that it is a mess.”
Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, told a press conference he was not “angry” with his ally, Trump, for entering the war, but said it was “difficult listening to the press conferences sometimes” to work out what the president’s motivation was.
The Liberal Democrat leader, Ed Davey, meanwhile, urged Starmer to “step up” plans to reopen the oil and gas shipping route throttled by Iran, adding: “The prime minister needs to show an alternative.”
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