As Keir Starmer continues his Gulf visit, foreign secretary says laws of the sea prevent Tehran from charging for passage of ‘international transit route’
Yvette Cooper, the foreign secretary, will say more about the importance of keeping the strait of Hormuz open in her Mansion House speech in the City of London this evening.
According to an extract released in advance, she will say:
Fertiliser for Africa, liquid natural gas for Asia, jet fuel for the world; the trading route for Qatar, UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Oman, all hijacked by Iran so they can hold the global economy hostage.
No country can close these routes – it goes against the fundamental principles of the law of the sea. In Britain, the importance of this runs deep through our history, our interests and our values. We are an island nation. A maritime economy. 95% of our trade is carried by sea. Around 40% of our food is imported.
We take a different view from the US on issues, and it is possible for us to be strong, close partners on a whole range of issues, but also to take different decisions on issues.
I think that the rhetoric that we’ve seen used, I think, has been completely wrong. I think that sort of escalatory rhetoric can have escalatory consequences.
More significantly, we should always distinguish between this malign Iranian regime that we have seen threaten its neighbours over a long time, and the people of Iran, many of whom have been brutally repressed by this Iranian regime.
Continue reading...Source: Guardian - World News
