The UK has offered to host an international security summit to draw up a “viable, collective plan” to reopen the Strait of Hormuz as economic fallout from the Iran conflict continues. Defence chiefs have been discussing how to unblock the vital shipping lane, through which about 20% of global oil supplies usually pass, amid the Middle East crisis.
The Ministry of Defence has already sent military planners to US Central Command to look at options for getting tankers through the strait, which has been effectively closed by Tehran’s threat of retaliatory attacks. More than 30 countries, including the UAE, UK, France, Germany, Canada and Australia, have signed a joint statement agreeing to work on safeguarding the waterway.
UK military chiefs have held talks with counterparts on the practicalities of securing the strait, including deploying minesweeping drones to the Gulf, after western countries rejected Donald Trump’s requests to send naval vessels. A defence official said a further meeting of defence chiefs is expected later this week, and a security conference could be held in London or Portsmouth.
Keir Starmer told the Commons liaison committee that there would not necessarily be a “quick and early end” to the conflict despite Trump postponing strikes on Iranian power plants. The UK and its allies are pressing for swift de-escalation as concerns grow over deep economic damage, with oil prices and government borrowing costs rising sharply.
Labour MP Matt Western, chair of the joint committee on national security strategy, said the conflict meant Trump’s presidency was on course to be one of the “most foolhardy and costly” for the global economy. He called on western leaders to stand firm in pressing for urgent de-escalation, warning that China and Russia are profiting from the crisis.
