The United Kingdom will host a meeting this week involving 35 countries focused on securing the Strait of Hormuz, prime minister Keir Starmer said on Wednesday.
The talks aim to restore freedom of navigation, guarantee the safety of trapped ships and seafarers and to resume the movement of vital commodities.
Starmer said the UK’s foreign secretary Yvette Cooper will host a meeting that brings those nations together for the first time where they will assess all viable diplomatic and political measures they can take.
Following the diplomatic discussions, military planners are expected to convene to assess operational steps. “They will look at how we can marshal our capabilities and make the Strait accessible and safe after the fighting has stopped,” Starmer said. He cautioned that the effort would be complex, adding, “I do have to level with people on this. This will not be easy.”
Starmer said he had met in Downing Street on Monday with business leaders from the shipping, finance, insurance, and energy sectors. According to the prime minister, they were “clear with me” that the “primary challenge” they face is not one of insurance, but one of safety and security of passage, he said.
Speaking at a morning press conference, Starmer said Britain would not be drawn into the conflict and stressed that the best way to deal with rising living costs was to push for de-escalation in the Middle East and ensure the Strait of Hormuz is reopened.
“To that end, we are exploring each and every diplomatic avenue that is available to us,” he said, adding that “freedom of navigation in the Middle East is in the British national interest.”
He reiterated that Britain would not be drawn into the conflict, saying direct involvement was “not in our national interest.”
The prime minister also referred to a five-point plan for the immediate crisis, pointing towards energy bills being cut, supporting people exposed to heating oil rises, and taking back control of the energy security by investing in clean British energy.
