Strait Talk
British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper (center) hosts a virtual summit in London on April 2 that focuses on reopening the Strait of Hormuz.Leon Neal/AFP via Getty Images
The United Kingdom hosted virtual talks on Thursday focused on forming a coalition to explore ways to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Representatives from more than 40 countries attended, highlighting what British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper called “the strength of our international determination” to secure the strategic waterway.
Yet, one empty chair loomed large over the meeting. The United States was notably absent from Thursday’s talks, after U.S. President Donald Trump argued that it was the responsibility of other countries that rely more on the strait to resolve the issue. “Go to the strait and just take it, protect it, use it for yourselves,” Trump said during a nationwide address late Wednesday. “Iran has been essentially decimated. The hard part is done, so it should be easy.”
Since the Iran war began on Feb. 28, Iranian forces have taken effective control of the Strait of Hormuz, through which one-fifth of the world’s oil normally transits. At least 23 direct Iranian attacks on commercial vessels in the Persian Gulf have been recorded thus far, according to Lloyd’s List Intelligence, a shipping data firm. Such insecurity has sparked an unprecedented disruption to global energy flows, causing oil and gas prices to soar and depleting fuel stocks around the world.
Trump has repeatedly urged European countries to deploy their militaries to the region to help reopen the strait. But the United States’ Western allies have resisted getting directly involved. “This is not our war, and we’re not going to get dragged into it,” British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Wednesday.
But weeks of energy shocks that have forced nations to tap their strategic oil reserves and institute emergency conservation measures may have finally outweighed this hesitancy. Thursday’s coalition attendees did not agree to any concrete solutions; however, they vowed to hold more detailed discussions involving military planners in the coming weeks.
What such a plan might look like remains unclear. One European official told Reuters on Thursday that any first phase would likely focus on making sure that Hormuz is clear of mines, followed by a second phase aimed at protecting tankers crossing the strait. This would align with a joint statement issued last month by many of the same governments that attended Thursday’s meeting. That statement called on Tehran to “cease immediately its threats, laying of mines, drone and missile attacks and other attempts to block the Strait to commercial shipping.”
Meanwhile, the United Nations Security Council convened on Thursday to vote on a Bahrain-sponsored resolution that would authorize countries to use military force to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. The draft is supported by several Gulf Arab nations.
Yet, French President Emmanuel Macron has expressed concerns with such a plan. During his trip to South Korea on Thursday, Macron said that reopening the strait by force was “unrealistic” and could “only be done in coordination with Iran” following the establishment of a cease-fire. Paris has pushed for the creation of an international mission that would escort ships through the waterway.
Bahrain’s foreign minister said he hoped that the Security Council would vote on the draft resolution on Friday.
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