TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The United Kingdom will hold a meeting of about 35 countries this week to discuss how to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced Wednesday.
UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper will lead the talks, Starmer told reporters during a press conference at Downing Street, without providing details on when exactly the talks would be held.
The discussions will "assess all viable diplomatic and political measures that we can take to restore freedom of navigation, guarantee the safety of trapped ships and seafarers and resume the movement of vital commodities," Starmer said.
The talks will include nations that recently signed a joint statement saying they were ready "to contribute to appropriate efforts to ensure safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz," the prime minister added.
The UK, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the Netherlands are among those to have signed it.
Since the start of the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran, Tehran has virtually closed the strategic waterway, through which a fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) would normally pass.
"I do have to level with people on this. This (reopening) will not be easy," Starmer said.
The British leader also said that the current "volatile" global situation has made it clear that the UK's "long-term national interest requires closer partnership with our allies in Europe."
Starmer is set to hold a summit with EU leaders in the coming weeks aimed at fostering closer EU ties that were severed by Brexit, when the UK left the bloc.
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