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“Iran is trying to hold the global economy hostage in the Strait of Hormuz. They must not prevail. To that effect, partners today called for the immediate and unconditional reopening of the Strait and respect for the fundamental principles of freedom of navigation and the law of the sea,” Britain’s Foreign Minister Yvette Cooper said in a statement after talks.
Earlier, French President Emmanuel Macron said that the opening could be “only done in consultation with Iran”, adding that a military operation to liberate Hormuz is “unrealistic”.
Meanwhile, the secretary-general of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) called for the UN Security Council to authorise the use of force to protect the Strait of Hormuz from Iranian attacks.
China said that US and Israeli strikes on Iran were the “root cause” of the blockage. It also called for an immediate ceasefire in the Middle East.
Iran’s armed forces responded to Trump with a warning for the United States and Israel of “more crushing, broader and more destructive” attacks in store.
The war will continue until the “permanent regret and surrender” of Iran’s enemies, said Ebrahim Zolfaqari, spokesperson for the Iranian military’s Khatam al-Anbiya central headquarters, in a statement carried by Iranian media.
Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi yesterday told Russia’s Sputnik state media that Oman was helping to prepare a draft for a peacetime protocol to supervise maritime traffic through Hormuz. The protocol would apply after the end of the ongoing war, the IRNA news agency said.
Amid the escalation, UN chief Antonio Guterres yesterday warned that the conflict risked spiralling into a wider war, as he called for an immediate halt to US-Israeli strikes on Iran and Iranian attacks on its neighbors.
Thousands of people have been killed across the Middle East since February 28, when the US and Israel began air strikes on Iran. The Iranian Health Ministry yesterday updated the death toll to 2,076, with 26,500 wounded. More than 1,300 have been killed in Lebanon.
At least 28 people have died in Israel, and 13 US troops have been killed in Iranian retaliation.
Iran yesterday said several people were likely injured when a bridge linking Tehran and the western city of Karaj was hit by air strikes. Some of its largest steel producers and Tehran’s Pasteur Institute of Iran medical research centre had sustained serious damage in the conflict, it said.
Late yesterday, Trump posted footage on social media of smoke rising from the B1 bridge in Karaj, around 20 miles (35 kilometers) southwest of Tehran -- and warned that there would be further destruction unless Iran comes to the table to end the five-week war.
“The biggest bridge in Iran comes tumbling down, never to be used again – Much more to follow! IT IS TIME FOR IRAN TO MAKE A DEAL BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE, AND THERE IS NOTHING LEFT OF WHAT STILL COULD BECOME A GREAT COUNTRY!” Trump said.
The country’s Revolutionary Guards said they had targeted US-linked steel and aluminium facilities in Gulf states and would step up such attacks if Iranian industries were hit again.
Israel reported new incoming salvoes yesterday. Several blasts sounded in Jerusalem, AFP journalists said, after the military issued an alert over incoming Iranian missiles.
Saudi Arabia said it had intercepted four drones, and Abu Dhabi said it had intercepted a missile, with minor damage near an economic zone.
The US embassy in Baghdad urged its citizens to leave Iraq, warning of attacks in the capital by Iran-allied militia in the next 24 to 48 hours.
Fuel shortages have already caused economic strains across Asia, and they are expected to bite in Europe soon. Italy’s foreign minister said migration flows would increase if the conflict were to drag on.
Benchmark Brent crude prices LCOc1jumped by about 8 percent to around $109 per barrel, and stocks took a hit, with little reassurance from Trump’s address about how the strait would reopen.
Experts fear a prolonged conflict may drive crude prices to as high as $150. Most analysts estimate crude might hit $130-$140.
The conflict has also reduced fertiliser shipments through the passage by 92 percent, from over a million tonnes in February to just 82,000 in March.
Trump, in his Wednesday’s speech, said talks could be possible with Iran’s new leadership, which he described as “less radical and much more reasonable” than their predecessors.