Brits are bracing for more pain today as oil prices surged after the collapse of Iran talks.
Brent Crude is trading above $100 a barrel again after marathon negotiations failed to get an agreement and Donald Trump ramped up tensions.
The US President has vowed to blockade ‘any and all ships’ attempting to use the vital Strait of Hormuz – through which around a fifth of the world’s oil and gas passes.
However, it is unclear what the move means in practice, with Iran already stopping most tankers getting through.
Keir Starmer has made clear there is no prospect of the UK joining a blockade, in another blow to the Special Relationship. The PM has voiced alarm at the impact of the crisis on the cost of living in the UK, with pump prices already rocketing, energy bills set to follow, and hopes of interest rate cuts on hold.
US Central Command (Centcom) last night said its forces will begin the blockade today at 3pm UK time, starting another countdown that has spooked markets.
‘The blockade will be enforced impartially against vessels of all nations entering or departing Iranian ports and coastal areas, including all Iranian ports on the Arabian Gulf and Gulf of Oman,’ it said.
‘Centcom forces will not impede freedom of navigation for vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz to and from non-Iranian ports.’
Sir Keir stressed ‘the need to work with a wide coalition of partners to protect freedom of navigation’ in the Strait as he spoke to French president Emmanuel Macron last night.
Mr Trump wrote on social media: ‘Any Iranian who fires at us, or at peaceful vessels, will be BLOWN TO HELL!’ He said the US would ‘finish up the little that is left of Iran’, adding: ‘THIS IS WORLD EXTORTION.’
‘We’re putting on a complete blockade,’ he told Fox News. ‘We’re not going to let Iran make money by selling oil to people that they like, and not people that they don’t like. It’s going to be all or none, and that’s the way it is.
‘We’re going to clean out the Strait and [ships] will be able to use it in not too long a distance.’
Mr Trump said that ‘the UK and a couple of other countries are sending mine sweepers’ to the strait, and ‘it won’t take long to clean it out’.
However, although Britain does have mine hunting systems in the region, they are thought to be drones and would only be deployed once the situation stabilises.
Last night the Wall Street Journal reported that Mr Trump was weighing up resuming limited military strikes in Iran in addition to the blockade in order to find a breakthrough on the peace talks.
It came as Tehran’s foreign minister claimed it was ‘inches away’ from agreeing a deal with the US.
Oil and gas prices have soared and stock markets have fallen since the Strait was closed by Iran at the start of its conflict with the US in February.
Airlines have warned of higher ticket prices as jet fuel costs have doubled, and supermarkets are likely to introduce price hikes due to higher importing and packaging costs.
Yesterday, Mr Trump said Iranian explosives would be cleared from the Strait by minesweepers, including some from the UK.
‘We have highly sophisticated underwater minesweepers, which are the latest and the greatest, but we’re also bringing in more traditional minesweepers,’ he said.
‘I understand the UK and a couple of other countries are sending minesweepers.’
The blockade plan comes after peace talks with Iran, led by US Vice President JD Vance in Islamabad, Pakistan, broke down on Saturday.
While the discussions took place, Mr Trump attended an Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) match in Miami.
