Prime Minister Keir Starmer has distanced the United Kingdom from the United States’ impending blockade of Iranian ports, making it clear that Britain has no intention of being drawn into the escalating conflict with Tehran.
His comments coincide with plans announced by French President Emmanuel Macron for a joint UK-France conference in the coming days. The summit will focus on restoring free navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical 33-kilometre waterway between Iran and Oman that handles about 20% of the world’s oil.
While Macron has not excluded French involvement in the U.S. action, he has outlined the proposed mission as peaceful, multinational and strictly defensive, operating separately from the main combatants.
Appearing on BBC Radio 5 Live, Starmer stressed Britain’s priorities. “We’re not supporting the blockade, and all of the marshalling, diplomatically, politically and in terms of capability, we do have mine-sweeping capability, I won’t go into operational matters, but we do have that capability. That’s all focused, from our point of view, on getting the strait fully open.”
“What we’ve been doing over the last few weeks, and this was part of what I was discussing with the Gulf states last week, is bringing countries together to keep the strait open, not shut,” he added.
The UK leader’s stance follows U.S. President Donald Trump’s announcement of a blockade set to begin at 10am Eastern Time on Monday, targeting vessels linked to Iranian harbours. The move comes after weekend talks between Washington and Tehran collapsed without resolution.
Trump told reporters, “At 10 tomorrow, we have a blockade going into effect.” He suggested other nations would help prevent Iran from exporting oil, though he named none.
European allies and Gulf states have expressed reluctance, viewing the clash as a U.S.-led venture. Germany has firmly opted out, describing Trump’s words as vague.
In a post on X, Macron said France would host the conference with the UK and willing partners for a “peaceful multinational mission aimed at restoring freedom of navigation in the Strait.” “This strictly defensive mission, which will be separate from the warring parties, is intended to be deployed as soon as the situation allows.”
Starmer warned that the war is already hitting UK households with higher energy bills, but he blamed Iran for strait disruptions rather than Trump.
“We, the United Kingdom, were very clear that we weren’t going to get dragged into this war, and we’re not, but equally, we have been involved in defensive action.”