New Delhi: The United Kingdom is convening talks with dozens of countries to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced the information. Notably, Indian foreign secretary Vikram Misri is reportedly attending the meeting virtually.
Meeting to assess all measures
Starmer was speaking during a news conference on Wednesday when he said that UK Foreign Minister Yvette Cooper would host a virtual meeting of 35 countries on Thursday to assess measures to reopen the strait. The important Gulf waterway has been effectively shut by Iran during its war with the US and Israel, creating gas supply shortage all over the world. It is the transit for about one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquified natural gas supplies.
Starmer said 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.”
What has Trump said on Hormuz?
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump, in his first major national address since the war with Iran began on February 28, “In these past 4 weeks, our armed forces have delivered swift, decisive, overwhelming victories on the battlefield—victories like few people have ever seen before.” He said, “Tonight, Iran’s Navy is gone, their Air Force is in ruins, and their leaders — most of them — and the terrorist regime they led are now dead.” He also said, “We have all the cards, they have none. We could hit their oil. We haven’t need Hormuz Strait and we don’t need it, adding that it would reopen naturally after the war.”