UK to urge full reopening of Strait of Hormuz

The foreign secretary will call for the Strait of Hormuz to be fully reopened later on Thursday after ships in the Gulf were warned by the Iranian navy that those without permission to pass through faced attack.

In her annual speech on UK foreign policy priorities, Yvette Cooper will also call for Lebanon to be included in the US and Israel's ceasefire agreement with Iran.

The UK may not have taken part in attacking Iran but ministers are keen to use any diplomatic heft to help reopen the vital shipping lane closed by Tehran.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is visiting allies in the Gulf, last night meeting Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who agreed on the need for a lasting peace.

This evening, Cooper is expected to say that the war has affected "every country on every continent", driving up food and petrol prices in the UK.

She will call for shipping in the Strait of Hormuz to be toll-free and unhindered after reports that vessels could be forced to make payments to Iran in exchange for safe passage.

Ministers accept the real decisions lie in the hands of the US and Israel - and the foreign secretary will call on them to include Lebanon in the ceasefire deal.

"There is considerable work to do and we support the negotiations," Cooper will say, outlining that there must be no return to conflict.

She will emphasise that the Strait or Hormuz must reopen as the "deliberate blocking of this critical artery of the global economy" is affecting British people, despite being more than 3,000 miles away.

"This is an international shipping route, a transit route for the High Seas," Cooper will add.

"No country can close these routes – it goes against the fundamental principles of the law of the sea."

The foreign secretary will also visit the International Maritime Organization on Thursday in a show of support for the organisation's efforts to help ships and seafarers currently trapped in the waterway.

"The full and unconditional re-opening of the Strait must be a central part not just of the current ceasefire but of the long term future for the region," she will reiterate.

The US has repeatedly accused allies of not doing enough to secure the shipping route or to support its war effort, leaving the UK and other nations weighing how to contribute to securing the critical waterway without becoming involved in the wider war.

Iran has attacked several vessels in response to the war waged against it by the US and Israel, disrupting energy exports and sending global fuel prices soaring.

Prior to the ceasefire announcement on Wednesday, US President Donald Trump said it was for other nations to "build up some delayed courage" and reopen the route.