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Britain accused Iran on Thursday of holding the world\u2019s economy hostage as diplomats from more than 40 countries held talks on ways to reopen the\u00a0Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping route that has been choked off by the\u00a0U.S.-Israeli war against Iran.<\/p>\n
The U.S. is not attending the virtual meeting, which comes after President Donald Trump made clear that he thinks securing the waterway, closed as a consequence of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, is\u00a0not America\u2019s job. Trump has also disparaged America\u2019s European allies for failing to support the war and renewed his threats to pull the U.S. out of NATO.<\/p>\n
U.K. Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said the talks, which focus on political and diplomatic rather than military means, showed \u201cthe strength of our international determination\u201d to reopen the strait.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have seen Iran hijack an international shipping route to hold the global economy hostage,\u201d she said at the start of the meeting. Cooper said \u201cunsustainable\u201d spikes in oil and food prices were \u201chitting households and businesses in every corner of the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shipping in the strait has slowed to a trickle<\/p>\n
Iranian attacks on commercial ships, and the threat of more, have halted nearly all traffic in the waterway that connects the Persian Gulf to the rest of the globe\u2019s oceans, shutting a critical path for the\u00a0world\u2019s flow of oil\u00a0and sending petroleum prices soaring.<\/p>\n
There have been 23 direct attacks on commercial vessels in the Gulf since the war began on Feb. 28, and 11 crew members have been killed, according to shipping data firm Lloyd\u2019s List Intelligence.<\/p>\n
Traffic through the strait has slowed to a trickle, with what remains dominated by sanctions-evading tankers carrying Iranian oil, Lloyd\u2019s List Intelligence said in a briefing Thursday. It said a murky operation under which Iran vets who can pass continues to operate as Tehran maintains its chokehold over the key waterway.<\/p>\n
In a televised address on Wednesday night,\u00a0Trump said\u00a0countries that depend on oil flowing through the Strait of Hormuz \u201cmust grab it and cherish it\u201d \u2014 because the U.S. would not.<\/p>\n
No country appears willing to try and open the strait by force while fighting rages and Iran can target vessels with anti-ship missiles, drones, attack craft and mines.<\/p>\n
French President Emmanuel Macron said opening the strait by force is \u201cunrealistic.\u201d<\/p>\n
The reopening of the strait \u201ccan only be done in coordination with Iran,\u201d through negotiations that would follow a potential ceasefire, Macron told reporters Thursday during a visit to South Korea.<\/p>\n
France is pushing for an international mission involving European and non-European nations to escort oil and gas tankers through the waterway after the most intense phase of the conflict is over. The British government said military planners from an unspecified number of countries will meet next week to plot ways to ensure security once the fighting ends, including potential mine-clearing work and \u201creassurance\u201d for commercial shipping.<\/p>\n
In the meantime, more than three dozen countries including the U.K., France, Germany, Italy, Canada, Japan and the United Arab Emirates have signed a statement demanding Iran stop its attempts to block the strait and pledging to \u201ccontribute to appropriate efforts to ensure safe passage\u201d through the waterway.<\/p>\n
Cooper said the 40-plus countries at the meeting \u2014 up from the 35 announced Wednesday \u2014 discussed \u201cdiplomatic and international planning measures\u201d to ensure the strait can reopen safely, and action to guarantee the safety of 20,000 seafarers on 2,000 ships trapped by the conflict.<\/p>\n
The meeting sends a message to Trump<\/p>\n
The international effort idea has echoes of the international \u201ccoalition of the willing\u201d that has been assembled, led by the U.K. and France, to underpin Ukraine\u2019s security after a future ceasefire in that war. That coalition is, in part, an attempt to demonstrate to the Trump administration that Europe is stepping up to do more for its own security.<\/p>\n
The urgency of stronger continental defenses has been reinforced by Trump\u2019s renewed suggestion that the U.S. could leave NATO. He said Wednesday that the military alliance had \u201ctreated us very badly.\u201d<\/p>\n
David B. Roberts, reader in Middle East Security Studies at King\u2019s College London, said international coalition-building efforts over Hormuz are \u201cdefinitely linked to the wider Trumpian antagonism toward NATO, that other members of NATO are not pulling their weight.<\/p>\n
\u201cWithout a doubt, this is Britain and France, notably, trying to lead the way, to very visibly show a certain sort of utility\u201d to the Trump administration.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s also the very pragmatic reality that America is an oil exporter,\u201d he added. \u201cThe immediate pressures about the fallout of the of the energy blockage in the Gulf, they fall on Europe and of course Asia, far more than America.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2014\u2014\u2014<\/p>\n
Associated Press writers David McHugh in Frankfurt, Germany and Sylvie Corbet in Paris contributed to this report.<\/p>\n
#accuses #Iran #Hormuz #hijack #holding #global #economy #hostage<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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