London: UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday ruled out British support for US President Donald Trump’s planned blockade of Iranian ports and coastal areas, including the crucial shipping route of the Strait of Hormuz.
During a weekend phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron, Starmer reiterated the UK stance of the need to “work with a wide coalition of partners to protect freedom of navigation,” given the strategic importance of the Strait for global trade and energy supplies.
He confirmed the presence of mine-sweepers and anti-drone defensive presence in the region as he stressed that British military capability will continue to focus on getting the Strait “fully open”.
“What we’ve been doing over the last few weeks – and this was part of what I was discussing with the Gulf states last week – is bringing countries together to keep the Strait open, not shut,” Starmer told BBC Radio.
“We’re not supporting the blockade and all of the marshalling diplomatically, politically and capability – we do have mine-sweeping capability, I won’t go into operational matters, but we do have that capability – that’s all focused, from our point of view, on getting the Strait fully open,” he said.
Starmer also reiterated the UK’s position against being drawn into the US-Iran conflict.
“My decision has been very clearly that whatever the pressure – and there’s been some considerable pressure – we’re not getting dragged into the war. The UK is not getting dragged in.”