UK to Host 35-Nation Summit on Reopening Strait of Hormuz
Britain is convening a virtual summit of around 35 countries on Thursday to discuss diplomatic and military options for reopening the Strait of Hormuz, as the near-total closure of the vital shipping lane continues to send global energy prices soaring just a day after Donald Trump told his allies to "go get your own oil."
Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper will chair the meeting, which comes after 35 nations including the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Canada, Japan and the UAE signed a joint statement calling on Iran to halt its attacks on commercial vessels and pledging to "contribute to appropriate efforts to ensure safe passage through the Strait."
The US will not be attending. Trump has made it clear that he considers securing the waterway someone else's problem,and told his allies on Tuesday to "build up some delayed courage, go to the Strait, and just TAKE IT."
Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who announced the summit on Wednesday at a news conference, was candid about the scale of the challenge. "I do have to level with people on this. This will not be easy," he said, adding that reopening the route would require "a united front of military strength and diplomatic activity" alongside partnership with the maritime industry. He said the meeting would "assess all viable diplomatic and political measures we can take to restore freedom of navigation, guarantee the safety of trapped ships and seafarers and resume the movement of vital commodities."
Crucially, Starmer framed Thursday's talks as preparation for what comes after the fighting ends, not an attempt to intervene militarily while the war continues. No country appears to be willing to open the strait by force while Iran retains the ability to target vessels with anti-ship missiles, drones and mines. Following the summit, Starmer said that military planners from an unspecified number of countries would meet separately to work on how to ensure security for shipping once hostilities cease.
About a fifth of the world's oil and gas normally passes through the Strait of Hormuz. The price of Brent crude has jumped from around $73 a barrel to well over $100 since the US-Israeli campaign against Iran began, with global fuel prices continuing to rise and putting governments under mounting pressure over cost-of-living impacts.
Thursday's meeting is described as a first step, to be followed by working-level official discussions. The effort has echoes of the European-led "coalition of the willing" that was assembled to guarantee Ukraine's security after a future ceasefire, which is a broader project that is also, in part, a response to Trump's suggestion that the US could pull back from NATO.
