Seven countries ready to join in unblocking the Strait of Hormuz — to lower oil prices (UPD)

The leaders of Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Japan and Canada made a joint statement that their countries are ready to join in unblocking the Strait of Hormuz.

The statement was published on the British government website.

They condemned Iran’s actions that threaten freedom of navigation and noted that the rise in oil prices has hit vulnerable populations hardest. They also supported the International Energy Agency’s decision to allow the release of 400 million barrels of strategic oil reserves and said they would take other steps to stabilize energy markets, including working with oil-producing countries to increase production.

The statement did not specify how their countries could contribute to restoring shipping safety.

However, Italy, Germany and France later added that this was not about immediate military assistance, but rather about a potential multilateral initiative after the ceasefire. Euroactive reports that Agence France-Presse wrote so. For example, French President Emmanuel Macron said that he was looking for allies to create an initiative to unblock at the UN level (UPD at 09:30).

Earlier, the US President Donald Trump said that NATO faces a “very bad future” if the Alliance countries do not help the US unblock the strait. He then made a similar request to the UK, France, China, Japan and South Korea.

At that time, The Telegraph wrote that British Prime Minister Keir Starmer refused Trump. France, Germany and South Korea also did not agree. And Reuters wrote that Japan and Australia also rejected the idea.

War in the Middle East

On the morning of February 28, the United States and Israel launched attacks on Iran. These attacks killed Iranʼs Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and almost the entire military leadership of the country — about 40 key high-ranking officials. A new ayatollah was elected on March 8, and he was Mojtaba Khamenei (the son of the deceased Ali Khamenei).

Iran, in response to the US and Israeli attacks, has begun shelling US bases in Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait and the UAE and firing missiles at Israel. Some Iranian drones and missiles have hit infrastructure and residential areas in Arab countries.

The conflict has brought tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow sea corridor between Iran and Oman that connects the Persian Gulf to the Indian Ocean, to a near standstill. About a fifth of the world’s oil exports pass through it — tens of millions of barrels a day. Oil, gas, and precious metals have skyrocketed in price.

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