Yvette Cooper has admitted “a lot of work needs to be done” to successfully reopen the Strait of Hormuz, as she insisted Iran should not be allowed to introduce tolls on the key shipping route.
The foreign secretary warned “no country should be able to hijack” international shipping routes such as the Strait, as she urged the US and Iran to take negotiations forward amid an increasingly fragile ceasefire.
Ms Cooper said the government’s priority is to ensure fighting between Tehran and Washington does not resume, and that it “crucially” wants the Strait of Hormuz to be reopened.
However, when asked on Thursday if she’s confident this would be possible, she said: “There’s a lot of work that needs to be done and we need the negotiations to be taken forward.”
She said she will meet with the International Maritime Organisation later on Thursday about their proposal to get some of the first ships moving, but added Iran should not be allowed to apply tolls in the strait.
“It is crucial that Iran is not allowed to impose tolls on the Strait of Hormuz,” she said.
“This is an international transit route through the high seas, so it cannot be allowed to apply tolls and restrictions to that route as it reopens.”
Iran has effectively blockaded the strait, through which around 20 per cent of the world’s gas and oil is shipped, in retaliation to US attacks on Tehran, sending energy prices soaring across the globe.
The route was formally treated as an international waterway before the conflict began in February, but Iran has now said it wants to charge fees for ships to pass through.
Ms Cooper told the BBC she had been in contact with Gulf partners who have been “very clear about the damage that tolls would do with international shipping”, and said they had said the idea was a “hard no”.
Sir Keir Starmer arrived in the UAE on Thursday as he continues his trip to Gulf countries amid concerns the conditional two-week ceasefire agreement is under strain.
Confusion has ensued after a ceasefire agreement was reached earlier this week that Iran and Pakistan said included Lebanon – but Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the White House said did not.
Hundreds were killed and injured in Israel’s continuing strikes on Lebanon, according to Lebanon’s Civil Defence. The Israeli military told The Independent that it had completed the “largest strike” on the country since the start of the conflict.
Ms Cooper said she is “deeply troubled” by Israel’s strikes on Lebanon and urged for the ceasefire agreement to be extended to stop them.
Speaking on Sky News, she said: “I’m deeply troubled about the escalating attacks that we saw from Israel in Lebanon yesterday.
“We’ve seen the humanitarian consequences, the huge mass displacement of people in Lebanon.”
Ms Cooper also criticised Mr Trump’s “escalatory rhetoric”, which she warned could have “escalatory consequences”, after the US president threatened to restart attacks against Iran.
He said that all American military personnel would remain stationed around the region until the agreement is “fully complied with”, and said if it was not, then “the ‘Shootin’ Starts,’ bigger, and better, and stronger than anyone has ever seen before”.
Despite Mr Trump’s repeated criticism of Sir Keir, Ms Cooper insisted the UK would continue to work closely with the US on a range of issues.
Asked whether there is a good relationship, she told the BBC: “I would say this is not just a good relationship, it’s a really important relationship.”
She added: “Of course, there are areas of difference, and we have to be confident about the fact that there will always be areas where we disagree, and we can do so at the same time as maintaining important cooperation.”