Canada, Japan, European allies willing to use ‘appropriate efforts’ to reopen Strait of Hormuz

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Canada joined European allies and Japan in signalling a willingness to participate in an effort to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, as air strikes on critical natural gas facilities during the third week of war in the Middle East threatened long-term damage to global energy supplies.

Israel’s attack Wednesday on Iranian facilities in the South Pars gas field led to retaliatory strikes by Iran on Qatar’s giant Ras Laffan liquefied petroleum facility and other sites across the region. Iran and Qatar share South Pars, the world’s largest natural gas reservoir.

On Thursday, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Japan, joined soon after by Canada, issued a joint statement that condemned Iran’s attacks and “the de facto closure of the Strait of Hormuz by Iranian forces.”

“The effects of Iran’s actions will be felt by people in all parts of the world, especially the most vulnerable,” the statement said. “We express our readiness to contribute to appropriate efforts to ensure safe passage through the Strait. We welcome the commitment of nations who are engaging in preparatory planning.”

The move followed days of calls from U.S. President Donald Trump for other countries to assist with securing the strait, as his administration sought to calm energy markets. The response from European and British leaders was initially chilly.

It’s still not clear what action the countries would take, and so far none of them have committed to supplying warships, mine sweepers or troops. The International Maritime Organization, a UN agency, has called for the creation of a “safe maritime corridor” but hasn’t said how it would be formed.

The escalation in fighting caused European natural gas prices to soar as much as 25 per cent, while the price of Brent oil, the international benchmark, jumped to US$119 a barrel before falling back to US$103.

Roughly 20 per cent of the world’s oil is shipped through the Strait of Hormuz, and nearly all of that traffic has come to a standstill since the United States and Israel began military action on Iran on Feb. 28. The recent targeting of gas facilities by Israel and Iran has escalated the war and raised fears of energy shortages in several countries across Europe and Asia.

Britain has sent a team of military planners to Washington to discuss options for how to resume shipping through the narrow waterway, according to a report in The Times of London.

The move marks something of a change in position for British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Earlier this week, he all but ruled out British involvement in an operation in the strait and insisted that any patrol would not be a NATO mission.

On Thursday, as energy prices surged, Mr. Starmer said his government was “working toward a swift resolution to the situation in the Middle East, in the best interests of the British people – because there is no question that ending the war is the quickest way to reduce the cost of living."

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Defence Minister David McGuinty signalled that Canada was part of discussions within NATO. “If neighbouring states around Iran in the Middle East and the Gulf require the assistance of NATO allies, this is something that NATO allies are considering, and Canada is also considering now,” he told reporters on Thursday during a visit to the headquarters of arms manufacturer Colt Canada in Kitchener, Ont.

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte indicated that other members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization were working with the U.S. on options.

“Everybody agrees this Strait cannot stay closed. It has to open up again as soon as possible,” Mr. Rutte told reporters in Brussels, where he attended a summit of EU leaders. “In my contacts with allies, what we are seeing is that they are intensely discussing amongst each other, with the United States, the best way forward and to tackle this huge security issue.”

Mr. Trump has been scathing about what he sees as a lack of support from allies, and NATO in particular. “I think NATO is making a very foolish mistake,” Mr. Trump said this week. “Everyone agrees with us, but they don’t want to help. And we, you know, we as the United States have to remember that because we think it’s pretty shocking.”

During a meeting in Washington on Thursday with Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, Mr. Trump said he expected Japan would “step up” when it came to the Strait of Hormuz. “Because, you know, we have that kind of relationship.”

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Ms. Takaichi did not offer any direct support to keep the strait open, but she said, “the global economy is now about to experience huge hits because of this development.”

Earlier on Thursday, Foreign Minister Anita Anand told a trade conference in London that, given the rise in global insecurity, this was a time for Canada to take a leading role with other like-minded countries.

Referring to Prime Minister Mark Carney’s speech in Davos, Switzerland, in January, in which he stressed the importance of middle powers working together, Ms. Anand said: “This is the moment where we need to ensure, as Prime Minister Carney mentioned in his speech, that we stand for our principles, and we do so individually and collectively, and work together with like-minded countries.”

Ms. Anand wasn’t clear how the “Carney doctrine” would play out in world affairs or which countries would band together. When asked to name the critical middle powers with which Canada plans to align, Ms. Anand was vague. “It depends on the issue, and different alliances will form given the particular issue,” she said.

With a report from Pippa Norman