US president urges nations to deploy vessels to keep key oil shipping route open amid conflict with Iran
Donald Trump has said the UK should send warships to help keep the strait of Hormuz open.
In a post on his Truth Social platform on Saturday, the US president urged the UK and other countries to deploy vessels to the strait amid the conflict with Iran.
The strait is a key trading artery between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, through which a fifth of the world’s oil passes. Last year, about 20m barrels of oil passed through the strait each day.
Since the US and Israel first launched strikes on Iran a fortnight ago, numerous ships travelling through the strait have been attacked. It is now effectively closed, driving up oil prices and putting intense pressure on the global economy.
