Britain on new collision course with Trump as Cooper insists there may be no Strait tolls and US vows to punish ‘unhelpful’ NATO international locations
Britain has set up a new potential clash with Donald Trump over Iran as a senior minister warned that there can be no tolls levied on ships going through the Strait of Hormuz.
Yvette Cooper said it was ‘crucial’ that Iran is not allowed to tax tankers entering and leaving the Gulf, after the US president suggested it could be done as a ‘beautiful’ joint venture with America.
The White House declared a dramatic and decisive victory in the Middle East yesterday, but it remained unclear who controlled the vital waterway, through which 20 per cent of the world’s oil and gas is transported.
Iranian officials said oil tankers using the Strait would have to pay tolls in cryptocurrency of $1 per barrel, potentially amounting to £2.2million per ship.
But that was before the Tehran regime closed the Straits again overnight, throwing Trump’s vaunted ceasefire into doubt, blaming continued Israeli attacks on Lebanon.
In a speech at the Lady Mayor’s Easter Banquet in London tonight, Ms Cooper is expected to say that rights of passage ‘must not be unilaterally withdrawn or sold off to individual bidders’, adding: ‘Nor can there be any place for tolls on an international waterway.’
Overnight Trump also again lashed out at NATO allies over the defensive alliance’s reluctance to help the US attack Iran.
‘NATO WASN’T THERE WHEN WE NEEDED THEM AND THEY WON’T BE THERE IF WE NEED THEM AGAIN,’ the president posted on his Truth Social media platform, hours after a scheduled meeting with mark Rutte, the NATO secretary general.
Meanwhile Keir Starmer continued his visit to the Middle east, arriving in the United Arab Emirates this morning after meeting Saudi Leader Mohammed Bin Salman in Jeddah yesterday.
Yvette Cooper said it was ‘crucial’ that Iran is not allowed to tax tankers entering and leaving the Gulf, after the US president suggested it could be done as a ‘beautiful’ joint venture
Overnight Trump also again lashed out at NATO allies over the defensive alliance’s reluctance to help the US attack Iran.
Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire and will reopen the waterway while a 10-point peace plan is negotiated by both sides, Trump announced on Wednesday.
The exact terms remain unsettled, but ships must notify intermediary companies linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) of their cargo, destination and owner – with tolls of at least $1 per barrel payable in Chinese yuan or cryptocurrency.
Trump welcomed the idea on Wednesday, telling ABC: ‘We’re thinking of doing it as a joint venture. It’s a way of securing it – also securing it from lots of other people.
‘It’s a beautiful thing.’
However last night Tehran halted tanker traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, warning unauthorised ships would be ‘targeted and destroyed’.
State media also reported the ceasefire would fail if Israel continued attacking Lebanon, home to Iranian terrorist proxy Hezbollah.
Ms Cooper today warned Lebanon must be included in the Iran ceasefire or it could ‘destabilise the whole region’.
But Trump insisted that Lebanon was not part of the peace deal, describing its conflict with Israel as a ‘separate skirmish’.
Meanwhile Keir Starmer continued his visit to the Middle east, arriving in the United Arab Emirates this morning after meeting Saudi Leader Mohammed Bin Salman in Jeddah yesterday.
