European nations, Japan say ‘ready to join appropriate efforts’ to secure Strait of Hormuz as energy crisis deepens

As the global energy crisis triggered by US and Israel’s war against Iran deepens and crude and gas prices soar, several European nations and Japan on Thursday said that they are ready to join “appropriate efforts” to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a key shipping route in the Persian Gulf that has been blocked by Iranian military forces.

In a joint statement, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Japan expressed their “readiness to contribute to appropriate efforts to ensure safe passage through the Strait”.

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Their statement comes a day after Israeli strikes on Iran’s South Pars gas field and the latter’s attacks on energy sites in several Gulf countries in retaliation dramatically escalated the Middle East conflict.

The European nations and Japan also promised to take “other steps to stabilise energy markets, including working with certain producing nations to increase output”.

However, their statement didn’t offer any further details or clarify if they were willing to join US President Donald Trump’s proposed coalition of naval forces to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

The development comes a day after Israel attacked Iran’s South Pars gas field. The attack was condemned by Qatar and US President Donald Trump said that he had no prior information about it.

In retaliation, Iran attacked Qatar’s Ras Laffan Industrial City, which processes about a fifth of the world’s liquefied natural gas. Iranian missiles also targeted energy sites in a few other Gulf countries.

Oil and natural gas prices soared after the tit-for-tat strikes on energy plants, adding to the global energy crisis triggered by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

Brent crude rose to near USD 114 per barrel, up from around USD 73 per barrel on February 27, a day before the Iran war’s start. Similarly, natural gas prices in Europe traded 24 per cent higher on Thursday.