The UK will co-host an international summit of more than 40 nations this week to discuss safeguarding shipping through the Strait of Hormuz after the Iran conflict ends. Keir Starmer has described the ongoing closure of the waterway as 'deeply damaging' and stressed that restoring global shipping is crucial to ease cost of living pressures.
Iran is believed to have laid at least a dozen mines to block oil tankers and other vessels from passing through the strait, which carries about 20% of global oil. Tehran possesses thousands of naval mines, and while US bombing may have destroyed much of Iran’s naval capacity, mines can still be deployed from small boats.
The Royal Navy has few mine-hunting ships available for deployment, limiting the UK’s role in keeping the strait safe and open for commercial shipping once hostilities cease. The depleted fleet means the UK will likely play a more restricted part in post-conflict maritime security efforts.
