UK and allies discuss sanctions on 'reckless' Iranians if Strait of Hormuz remains closed

The United Kingdom and its allies have discussed "sanctions to bear down on Iran" if the Strait of Hormuz remains closed, the Foreign Secretary has said.

Yvette Cooper chaired a meeting of more than 40 countries over reopening the vital shipping lane.

She said the “recklessness” of the Iranian regime is “hitting global economic security” and said coalition of countries will use "every possible diplomatic, economic and co-ordinated measure".

Ms Cooper said that could include "working with the International Maritime Organisation to ensure that the first stranded ships can get moving again" as 2,000 remain trapped.

Britain is seeking to lead a diplomatic initiative to restore access to the vital oil shipping lane being throttled by Iran in retaliation to US-Israeli attacks.

Its closure has crippled energy exports and threatens to cause a global supply crisis as well as push up inflation.

It comes after Donald Trump said countries that rely on the strait should “build up some delayed courage” and take control of it themselves.

In a video call with counterparts and representatives from more than 40 countries, including France and Germany , on Thursday, Ms Cooper hit out at Tehran after “over 25 attacks on vessels in the strait, and there are some 20,000 trapped seafarers on some 2,000 trapped ships”.

“Iranian recklessness towards countries who were never involved in this conflict… is not just hitting mortgage rates and petrol prices and the cost of living here in the UK and in many different countries across the world, it is hitting our global economic security.”
She added: “In today’s meeting, we are focusing on the diplomatic and international planning measures, including collective mobilisation of our full range of diplomatic and economic tools and pressures, reassurance work with industry, insurers and energy markets, and also action to guarantee the safety of trapped ships and seafarers, and effective coordination that we need across the world to enable a safe and sustained opening of the strait.”
Despite Trump’s remarks, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has admitted unblocking the lane will not be easy.

Another meeting next week among military planners will consider how to make the strait “accessible and safe” after the fighting has stopped, although this is not expected to involve the deployment of Royal Navy warships to police the waterway.

On Thursday morning Trump declared the US military has nearly accomplished its goals in Iran in an address to the nation - but also vowed to bomb the country back into the “Stone Age”.

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Facing a war-wary American public, the US President said Iran's navy and air force had been destroyed its ballistic missile and nuclear programmes crippled.

But he declined to lay out a concrete plan to wind down the war, now in its fifth week, beyond saying that he would finish the job “very fast”.

“We have all the cards,” Trump said from the White House i n his first primetime address since the US and Israel launched the war on February 28 .

“They have none.”
The strait, he said, would open “naturally” once the war ended.