00:00Good morning everyone, Keran Isaac. Good morning, afternoon and evening to colleagues from all over the world.
00:06Can I welcome, we have foreign ministers and representatives from over 40 countries today to discuss the Straits of Hormuz.
00:15The impact of the closure, the urgent need to restore freedom of navigation for international shipping
00:23and the strength of our international determination to see the strait reopen once more.
00:30In the last 24 hours, it's estimated five vessels passed through the strait, which is an international shipping route
00:36that would normally see 150 vessels a day. There have been over 25 attacks on vessels in the strait
00:44and there are some 20,000 trapped seafarers on some 2,000 trapped ships.
00:50We have seen Iran hijack an international shipping route to hold the global economy hostage.
00:58This is hitting the trading routes for Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the UAE, Saudi, Oman, Iraq,
01:05but that means liquid natural gas for Asia, fertiliser for Africa and jet fuel for the world.
01:12And that Iranian recklessness towards countries who were never involved in this conflict,
01:17which we and 130 countries across the world have strongly condemned at the United Nations,
01:24is not just hitting mortgage rates and petrol prices and the cost of living here in the UK
01:30and in many different countries across the world, it is hitting our global economic security.
01:36And the World Bank estimates that this attack on the strait could push 9 million people worldwide
01:44into food insecurity alongside the unsustainable increases that we have seen in oil prices and food prices
01:53hitting households and businesses in every corner of the world.
01:57So that is why we've come together as foreign ministers and officials from across the world today.
02:02So those who joined in the leader's statement on restoring safe passage through the strait
02:07and more and many more coming together in our collective determination to secure freedom of navigation
02:13and to reopen the strait.
02:17Alongside today's discussions, we are also convening military planners
02:21to look at how we marshal our collective defensive military capabilities,
02:26including looking at issues such as demining or reassurance once the conflict eases.
02:33But in today's meeting, we are focusing on the diplomatic and international planning measures,
02:39including collective mobilisation of our full range of diplomatic and economic tools and pressures,
02:47reassurance work with industry, insurers and energy markets,
02:51and also action to guarantee the safety of trapped ships and seafarers
02:57and the effective coordination that we need across the world
03:01to enable a safe and sustained opening of the strait.
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