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UK Gathers Countries for Hormuz Plans 04/02 06:27
Foreign ministers from almost three dozen countries will meet Thursday in an
effort to exert diplomatic and political pressure to reopen the Strait of
Hormuz, a vital shipping route that has been choked off by the U.S.-Israeli war
against Iran.
LONDON (AP) -- Foreign ministers from almost three dozen countries will meet
Thursday in an effort to exert diplomatic and political pressure to reopen the
Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping route that has been choked off by the
U.S.-Israeli war against Iran.
The U.S. is not among the countries attending Thursday's meeting, which
comes after President Donald Trump made clear that he thinks securing the
waterway, closed as a consequence of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, is not
America's job. Trump has also disparaged America's European allies for failing
to support the war and renewed his threats to pull the U.S. out of NATO.
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.
There have been 23 direct attacks on commercial vessels in the Gulf since
the war began on Feb. 28 and 11 crew members have been killed, according to
Lloyd's List Intelligence, a shipping data firm.
Traffic through the strait has slowed to a trickle, with remaining tanker
traffic dominated by sanctions-evading tankers carrying Iranian oil, Lloyd's
List Intelligence said in a briefing Thursday. It said a murky operation under
which Iran vets who can pass continues to operate as Tehran maintains its
chokehold over the key waterway.
In a televised address on Wednesday night, Trump said countries that depend
on oil flowing through the Strait of Hormuz "must grab it and cherish it" --
because the U.S. would not.
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."
In the meantime, 35 countries including the U.K., France, Germany, Italy,
Canada, Japan and the United Arab Emirates have signed a statement demanding
Iran stop its attempts to block the strait and pledging to "contribute to
appropriate efforts to ensure safe passage" through the waterway.
Thursday's meeting is considered a first step, to be followed by
"working-level meetings" of officials to hammer out details.
Starmer said resuming shipping "will not be easy," and will require "a
united front of military strength and diplomatic activity" alongside
partnership with the maritime industry.
The international effort idea has echoes of the international "coalition of
the willing" that has been assembled, led by the U.K. and France, to underpin
Ukraine's security after a future ceasefire in that war. The coalition is, in
part, an attempt to demonstrate to the Trump administration that Europe is
stepping up to do more for its own security.
The urgency of stronger continental defenses has been reinforced by Trump's
renewed suggestion that the U.S. could leave NATO. He said Wednesday that the
military alliance had "treated us very badly."
David B. Roberts, reader in Middle East Security Studies at King's College
London, said international coalition-building efforts are "definitely linked to
the wider Trumpian antagonism toward NATO, that other members of NATO are not
pulling their weight.
"Without a doubt, this is Britain and France, notably, trying to lead the
way, to very visibly show a certain sort of utility" to the Trump
administration.
"There's also the very pragmatic reality that America is an oil exporter,"
he added. "The immediate pressures about the fallout of the of the energy
blockage in the Gulf, they fall on Europe and of course Asia, far more than
America."
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