Yvette Cooper dodged questions on whether the US was still an ally as she said the UK and other nations would use “every possible” measure to reopen the crucial Strait of Hormuz.
The foreign secretary was speaking after discussing with allies potential sanctions “to bear down on Iran” if the waterway, critical to the world’s oil supplies, remains blockaded.
She chaired a meeting of more than 40 countries designed to tackle what she described as “reckless” Iranian attacks on the vital shipping lane, where 2,000 vessels remain trapped.
But she evaded a question on whether or not Washington was still an ally, a day after Rachel Reeves expressed her anger at Donald Trump over the Iran war, saying only: “We want to see the conflict resolved… as rapidly as possible, because, frankly, that’s what’s best for the cost of living here in the UK.”
Tehran has blocked the channel in retaliation for the month-long US-Israeli campaign against it, causing global oil prices to soar.
In a statement following the virtual meeting on Thursday, Ms Cooper spoke of the “determination” of the international community, as she warned the closure was a “direct threat to global prosperity”.
“Iran is trying to hold the global economy hostage in the Strait of Hormuz. They must not prevail,” she warned.
The group called for the immediate and unconditional reopening of the Strait and discussed possible sanctions to “bear down” on Iran if it did not.
In the face of President Trump’s repeated criticism of the UK over Sir Keir Starmer’s refusal to take part in his offensive against Iran and insistence that the UK won’t be dragged into the wider war, Ms Cooper said that “our job is to take decisions in the UK national interest”.
She added: “That’s what this government will do, not based on any other country’s priority or anything in terms of the US or other countries, but actually what’s in the UK’s national interest.”
There have been more than 25 attacks on vessels in the strait, Ms Cooper told the meeting, with “some 20,000 trapped seafarers on some 2,000 trapped ships”.
Another meeting next Tuesday of military planners will consider how to “keep shipping safe for the long term”, Ms Cooper said, including looking at issues such as clearing mines possibly laid by Tehran to sink ships in the sea passage.
It will be convened by Britain’s Permanent Joint Headquarters, based in Northwood, northwest London, but some international leaders are expected to join virtually.
On Wednesday, Mr Trump said countries that rely on the strait should “build up some delayed courage” and “just grab it”, and suggested that after the Iran conflict was over, the critical waterway would “just open up naturally”.
But the prime minister has warned that unblocking the lane will “not be easy”.
French president Emmanuel Macron went further on Thursday, telling journalists that it was “unrealistic” to reopen the Strait of Hormuz by force.
