Yvette Cooper continues Saudi visit as Iran threatens to block key oil route

The Foreign Secretary will continue her visit to Saudi Arabia on Friday amid continued concern about Iranian threats to the Strait of Hormuz.

She arrived in the country on Thursday in a show of solidarity with Gulf states hit by Iran’s retaliation to ongoing joint US-Israeli strikes.

Since then, Iran’s new supreme leader has threatened to continue attacks on the country’s neighbours until they “expel the Americans” as he vowed to avenge “martyrs” killed in the conflict.

In a written statement read out on Iranian television by a news anchor, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei also threatened to continue blocking the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping lane for oil from the Gulf.

The effective blockade of the strait has seen oil prices spike, touching 100 dollars per barrel again on Thursday and threatening higher inflation in the UK and across the world.

Against that background, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said he would work to “de-escalate the situation” and was co-ordinating with other world leaders on the supply of oil.

Part of that effort saw Ms Cooper meet a range of Saudi ministers on Thursday, including the energy minister and foreign minister.

And she addressed a special meeting of the Gulf Co-operation Council’s (GCC) foreign ministers on regional stability and Mr Khamenei’s threats to the Strait of Hormuz.

GCC secretary-general Jasem Al-Budaiwi thanked Ms Cooper for the UK’s military and “moral support”.

The UK continues to carry out defensive operations in the region, including RAF jets flying sorties over Jordan, Qatar and the UAE to protect against drone attacks.

British troops came under attack at a military base in Erbil, Iraq, on Wednesday night, defence chiefs have said.

Defence Secretary John Healey was briefed on the latest updates on British action in the conflict in the Middle East during a visit to the Northwood military headquarters in Hertfordshire on Thursday.

Asked on Thursday whether the UK would be prepared to participate in a patrol of the straits, the minister said it was “early days” and insisted there was an “international imperative” to resolve the situation.

Demining any waters would be “extremely difficult,” he said, adding that he was having discussions with planners and that there were already some demining autonomous systems in place in the region since before the conflict.

“In the end, this is likely to be most quickly sorted and the straits are most likely to be quickly opened by a de-escalation of the conflict, by a greater stabilisation and confidence in the region and by all those nations that want to see the straits reopened being willing to work together.”

The Defence Secretary warned that Vladimir Putin’s “hidden hand” was behind some of the Iranian tactics and that the Russian president was benefitting from the surge in oil prices triggered by the conflict.

“It helps him with a fresh supply of funds for his brutal war in Ukraine,” he said.

On Friday, French President Emmanuel Macron confirmed a French soldier had been killed in an attack targeting Erbil and several others had been injured.

In a post on X, Mr Macron said: “To his family, to his brothers in arms, I want to express all the affection and solidarity of the Nation.”