By Jacki Thrapp
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) joined a growing list of countries that have pledged support for safe passage in the Strait of Hormuz.
“We express our readiness to contribute to appropriate efforts to ensure safe passage through the Strait,” a joint statement released on March 21 read.
“We welcome the commitment of nations who are engaging in preparatory planning.”
As of Saturday, 22 countries have pledged to ensure safe navigation through the crucial passageway located just off the Southwest coast of Iran, through which around one-fifth of the world’s oil and gas passes.
The countries committed to the efforts are the UAE, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Japan, Canada, the Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Denmark, Latvia, Slovenia, Estonia, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Czechia, Romania, Bahrain, Lithuania, and Australia.
The joint statement on Saturday also condemned Iran’s recent attacks on unarmed commercial vessels in the Gulf, attacks on civilian infrastructure, including oil and gas installations, and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz by the Iranian regime.
“We express our deep concern about the escalating conflict,” the statement added.
“We call on Iran to cease immediately its threats, laying of mines, drone and missile attacks, and other attempts to block the Strait to commercial shipping, and to comply with UN Security Council Resolution 2817.”
The nations warned that Iran’s actions will be felt across the world, and countries are working to stabilize energy markets, which have been heavily impacted since the United States and Israel attacked the Iranian regime on Feb. 28.
U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters on March 20 that Iran was “from a military standpoint … finished,” but was still “clogging up” the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump’s statement came one day after Pentagon officials announced they had launched an offensive to attempt to reopen the Strait of Hormuz by using low-flying jets and Apache helicopters to strike Iranian vessels in the waterway.
The United States also issued a 30-day sanctions waiver, which will allow Iranian crude oil and petroleum products, currently stranded at sea, to be sold until April 19, according to an announcement by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on March 20.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the situation in the Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz will only return to normal if the United States and Israel stop attacks and end the war, and promise there won’t be any further aggressions, according to a translated summary of his phone call with India’s minister of External Affairs that he shared with his Telegram followers on March 21.
U.S. officials have said the military operations against Iran are a preemptive attack to prevent the regime, which has long supported terrorist groups, from obtaining a nuclear weapon. The joint U.S.–Israeli strikes were launched days after the most recent round of nuclear talks between the U.S. and Iranian delegations in Geneva failed to reach an agreement.
