As Keir Starmer continues his Gulf visit, foreign secretary says laws of the sea prevent Tehran from charging for passage of ‘international transit route’
Yvette Cooper has described Donald Trump’s threat to wipe out Iranian civilisation earlier this week as “completely wrong”.
Trump’s language about Iran became increasingly aggressive and barbaric ahead of the ceasefire, culminating with a Truth Social post on Tuesday saying “a whole civilisation will die tonight” if Iran did not comply with US demands.
We take a different view from the US on issues, and it is possible for us to be strong, close partners on a whole range of issues, but also to take different decisions on issues.
I think that the rhetoric that we’ve seen used, I think, has been completely wrong. I think that sort of escalatory rhetoric can have escalatory consequences.
More significantly, we should always distinguish between this malign Iranian regime that we have seen threaten its neighbours over a long time, and the people of Iran, many of whom have been brutally repressed by this Iranian regime.
The prime minister began by welcoming the ceasefire and set out how efforts must now be focused on upholding it and turning it into a lasting peace.
He was clear that it was vital now to continue work to reopen the strait of Hormuz, and discussed the UK’s ongoing efforts to convene partners to agree and plan the practical steps required to give shipping the confidence to transit the strait.
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