EU Foreign Policy Chief Prioritizes Diplomacy to Keep Strait of Hormuz Open

JAKARTA - The head of the European Union's Foreign Policy Kaja Kallas said on Tuesday that diplomatic ways must be found to keep the Strait of Hormuz open, following US President Donald Trump's call on allies to send warships there to secure transit routes amid the war in Iran.

"No one is ready to endanger its people in the Strait of Hormuz. We must find diplomatic ways to keep this route open so that we do not experience a food crisis, a fertilizer crisis, and an energy crisis as well," Kallas said in an interview with Reuters, as reported by Al Arabiya (17/3).

Earlier, a number of European countries and India on Monday signaled caution over potential involvement in securing the Strait of Hormuz, with leaders stressing diplomacy and saying no decisions had been made on military participation despite pressure from the United States.

President Trump said on Sunday his administration was talking to seven countries about helping secure the Strait of Hormuz amid the US-Israeli war on Iran, calling on them to help protect vessels in a vital waterway that Tehran has largely blocked to oil tanker traffic.

It is known that tensions have increased in the Middle East, following the attacks by the United States and Israel on Iran on February 28, which Tehran said killed more than 1,300 people, including Ali Khamenei, the former supreme leader, and more than 150 students.

Since then, Iran has launched drone and missile attacks targeting Israel, Jordan, Iraq, and Gulf states hosting US military assets.

Tehran has also effectively tightened the Strait of Hormuz since March 1. This narrow waterway transports around 20 million barrels of oil per day and about 20 percent of global liquefied natural gas trade.

Most recently, the new Supreme Leader of Iran, Mojtaba Khamenei, in a statement read by a presenter on state television on Thursday said Iranian forces must keep the strategic Strait of Hormuz closed, as quoted by Al Arabiya and AFP.