British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Monday that ongoing work to reopen the Strait of Hormuz would not be a NATO mission but would involve a broad alliance including Gulf partners as well as European countries and the United States.
“We are working with others to come up with a credible plan for the Straits of Hormuz to ensure that we can reopen shipping and passage through the Strait. Let me be clear, that won’t be and it’s never been envisioned to be a NATO mission,” Starmer told reporters.
“That will have to be an alliance of partners, which is why we’re working with partners, both in Europe, in the Gulf, and with the U.S.”
Starmer, who has faced pressure from critics at home and from U.S. President Donald Trump over what support to provide for the strikes on Iran, said reopening a waterway that is vital for oil and liquefied natural gas was key to stabilising energy markets.
He also set out the first financial support as a result of the conflict, a 53-million-pound ($70.30 million) package for the most vulnerable households which rely on heating oil, an energy source which has spiked after the launch of the conflict.
Trump said at the weekend that he wanted allies including China, France, Japan, South Korea, Britain and others to send ships to the area to keep the Strait open and safe.
Starmer told a press conference on Monday that ultimately the Strait of Hormuz had to be reopened to “ensure stability in the (oil) market”. But he added: “That is not a simple task”.
Separately, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Monday she had discussed with U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres the idea of freeing up transport of oil and gas through the Strait of Hormuz by replicating a deal that gets grain out of Ukraine during wartime.
“I had talks with Antonio Guterres about whether it was possible to also have the same kind of initiative like we had (with) the Black Sea Initiative,” Kallas said.
It is noteworthy that about a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas normally passes through the strait, a narrow passage of water between Iran and Oman. Tehran’s ability to stop shipping through the channel could give it enormous leverage over the U.S. and its allies.
