Nearly three dozen countries will meet in the U.K. Thursday to press for reopening the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping route disrupted by the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the virtual meeting chaired by Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper "will assess all viable diplomatic and political measures we can take to restore freedom of navigation, guarantee the safety of trapped ships and seafarers and to resume the movement of vital commodities."
Iranian attacks on commercial ships and the threat of more, have halted nearly all traffic in the waterway that connects the Persian Gulf to the rest of the globe’s oceans, shutting a critical path for the world’s flow of oil and sending petroleum prices soaring.
The U.S. is not among the countries attending Thursday's meeting. Trump has said securing the waterway is not America’s job, and told U.S. allies to "go get your own oil."
No country appears willing to try and open the strait by force while fighting rages and Iran can target vessels with anti-ship missiles, drones, attack craft and mines. But Starmer said Wednesday that military planners from an unspecified number of countries will meet soon to work on how to ensure security for shipping "after the fighting has stopped."
