News
15/03/26
UK weighs Trump request to help reopen strait: Update
UK weighs Trump request to help reopen strait: Update
Updates with comments from US energy secretary, Iran's foreign minister. London,
15 March (Argus) — The UK is considering how it can support efforts to reopen
the strait of Hormuz after US president Donald Trump asked the UK and other
countries to send warships to the waterway to defend against Iranian threats to
shipping. "It is very important that we get the strait of Hormuz reopened," UK
energy minister Ed Miliband said on Sunday in an interview with the BBC. "And we
have already been talking with our allies, including the US, about this. There
are different ways that we could contribute, including with mine-hunting drones.
All of these things are being looked at in concert with our allies. Any options
that can help to get the strait reopened are being looked at." In a social media
post on Saturday, Trump urged the UK, China, France, Japan and South Korea to
send warships to the strait so that it was no longer subject to threats from
Iran and could be reopened. "The Countries of the World that receive Oil through
the Hormuz Strait must take care of that passage, and we will help — A LOT!"
Trump said. "The U.S. will also coordinate with those Countries so that
everything goes quickly, smoothly, and well. This should have always been a team
effort, and now it will be." In a separate post, Trump added that "hopefully
China, France, Japan, South Korea, the UK, and others, that are affected by this
artificial constraint, will send Ships to the area so that the Hormuz Strait
will no longer be a threat by a Nation that has been totally decapitated." "One
way or the other, we will soon get the Hormuz Strait OPEN, SAFE, and FREE!"
Trump said. US energy secretary Chris Wright told NBC's Meet the Press on Sunday
that he expects China will be a "constructive partner" in helping to reopen the
strait of Hormuz. A crucial chokepoint for global energy trade which last year
handled around 19mn b/d of crude and petroleum products, the strait has been
largely closed to shipping since early March because of the threat of drone and
missile attacks from Iran. But some ships are getting through. Five tankers
carrying LPG, LNG and crude went through the strait of Hormuz last night, Wright
said. "So, we know flow through the straits of Hormuz is possible." Iran did not
fire on those vessels. "Probably they made a deal with India," Wright said.
Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araqchi told CBS' Face the Nation on Sunday that
Tehran has been approached by a "number of countries" wanting to have safe
passage through the strait. "This is up to our military to decide," he said.
Tehran has fired on other vessels in the region and has attacked US military
bases and energy and other infrastructure across the Middle East, as retaliation
for the ongoing air attacks launched against Iran by the US and Israel since 28
February. Trump has tasked the US military with reopening the waterway and
promised to provide naval escorts for ships stranded in the Mideast Gulf, but
senior US military officials on 13 March declined to provide a timeline or
details of any plan for how that would be accomplished. By Jim Washer and David
Ivanovich Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com
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