Keir Starmer has slapped down Donald Trump’s plans to blockade the Strait of Hormuz saying the UK wants the vital shipping route to be ‘open, not shut’
Keir Starmer has slapped down Donald Trump’s belligerent threat to blockade the Strait of Hormuz saying the UK wants the vital shipping route to be “open, not shut”.
The PM said the UK is “not supporting the blockade” and that he wants the Strait to be “fully open”. The PM – who visited the Gulf last week to hold talks on opening the vital shipping route – repeated his position that the UK “is not getting dragged into” the Iran war.
He told BBC Radio 5: “What we’ve been doing over the last few weeks, and this was part of what I was discussing with the Gulf states last week, is bringing countries together to keep the Straits open, not shut. And, that isn’t a sort of remote issue. All the time the Strait is shut or not free for navigation in the way it should be, that means that oil and gas is not getting to market.
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“That means the price is going up. That means everybody listening to this is facing higher energy bills. And I don’t want that to happen. I want their energy bills to be stabilised and lower.
“And so it is, in my view, vital that we get the Strait open and fully open. And that’s where we’ve put all of our efforts in the last few weeks, and we’ll continue to do so. Gulf states last week were really clear with me that they want freedom of navigation, and they’re right about that.”
Asked whether the UK will support a US military blockade – for instance with minesweepers in the area – the PM added: “We’re not supporting the blockade.”
He said any UK diplomatic or political efforts, as well as minesweeping capability, is “all focused from our point of view on getting the Straits fully open”. He added: “The reason for that is because that’s the way we get energy prices down as quickly as possible.
“And I’m very concerned about the impact that this war is having on people back in the United Kingdom who’ve obviously played no part in the war, but I don’t want them paying the price. So that’s my primary focus.”
Mr Trump last night said the US Navy would blockade the Strait from 3pm on Monday, preventing any ships from entering or leaving, after US-Iran peace talks broke down.
He added on his website Truth Social: “I have instructed our navy to seek and interdict every vessel in international waters that has paid a toll to Iran.” He continued: “Any Iranian who fires at us, or at peaceful vessels, will be BLOWN TO HELL!” It followed threats such as last week’s claim that “a whole civilisation will die” if Iran did not open the strait.
The PM has been leading European efforts to try to re-open the Tehran-blockaded Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping route that transports around a fifth of the world’s oil.
A US-Iran ceasefire attempting to reopen the Strait has faced cracks since being agreed earlier this week. Gas prices have risen sharply during the ongoing closure of the Strait.
Britain will host further talks on reopening the vital Strait of Hormuz shipping lane with a coalition of countries next week. The meeting will continue the Government’s efforts to restore freedom of navigation in the Strait.