UK Calls for European-Led Maritime Protection Force

The United Kingdom is prepared to join a European-led international maritime force to protect commercial shipping from Iranian interference, foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt said on Monday.

The Department of Transport has raised the security level for British-flagged shipping to level three and is advising against all passage in Iranian waters and in the Strait of Hormuz.

Speaking before the House of Commons, Hunt said the maritime security force would protect crew and cargo from what he described as “wholly illegal acts of state piracy by Iran.”

“We will now seek to put together a European-led maritime protection mission to support safe passage of both crew and cargo in this vital region,” he said

Hunt stressed the UK did not want to join the US maximum pressure campaign on Iran since the UK, unlike the Americans, remained supporters of the Iran nuclear deal signed in 2015. 

The foreign secretary said that he had spoken to the foreign ministers of Oman, the United States, France, Germany, Italy, Finland, Spain, and Denmark.

 

[Sources: The GuardianThe Defense Post]

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