Starmer and Trump mull restoring access to Strait of Hormuz

Keir Starmer, the UK Prime Minister, revealed that he held a phone call with US President Donald Trump last night, during which they discussed the ceasefire with Iran and military strategies for the Strait of Hormuz.

Starmer said he told Trump that if the ceasefire with Iran is going to hold, then it must involve neighboring Persian Gulf nations, News.Az reports, citing foreign media.

“These Gulf states are the neighbors of Iran. And therefore, if the ceasefire is to hold — and we hope it will — it has to involve them. They have very strong views on the Strait of Hormuz,” Starmer said as he spoke from Qatar.

He continued that the two leaders spent most of the time on the call talking about the importance of a plan for moving vessels through the key waterway. Analysts say uncertainty surrounding the strait is still making transit too risky right now.

Starmer’s phone call with Trump comes amid recent strained US-UK ties, as well as broader tension between the Trump administration and NATO as member states refused to engage directly with the US-Israeli war with Iran, prompting Trump to lash out at the alliance.

Speaking about the UK’s relationship with Gulf nations — which were drawn into the conflict as Iran launched retaliatory strikes on its neighbors — Starmer stressed the importance of “us standing with them, as an ally, as a friend of theirs at a point of need.”

“There’s a sense here (in the Gulf), as there is, I think, in the United Kingdom, that this conflict is going to define us for a generation, and we must respond, that we will respond with strength,” he said.

Starmer made the comments as he concluded a three-day diplomatic tour of the Gulf region.

News.Az 

By Ulviyya Salmanli