UK urges full resumption of shipping through Strait of Hormuz

On April 18, British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper called for the full restoration of commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, warning that operations in the vital waterway have yet to return to normal despite a ceasefire in the Iran conflict.

“We are at a critical diplomatic moment with a ceasefire now in place ... but we don't yet have normal passage through the strait,” Cooper told British media on the sidelines of a diplomacy forum in Antalya.

A convoy of tankers passed through the strait on Saturday, marking the first major movement of vessels in the strategic shipping lane since the United States and Israel launched their war on Iran on 28 February.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said Tehran had agreed to “the managed passage of a limited number of oil tankers and commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz”. It added that the strait would remain under strict Iranian control if the U.S. did not ensure full freedom of navigation for vessels travelling from and to Iran.

Cooper said the U.S.-Iran truce must evolve into a durable peace and stressed that restoring shipping flows was urgent for the global economy.

“We need the Strait of Hormuz open ... because this helps all of our economies right across the world that are currently being held hostage,” she said.

She added that more than 50 countries had backed efforts to support freedom of navigation, with over a dozen prepared to provide maritime assistance, including demining and reassurance operations, once hostilities end.

Cooper also warned that significant diplomatic work remained to convert the ceasefire into a lasting settlement and urged all parties to uphold the truce.

By Aghakazim Guliyev