UK urges reopening of Strait of Hormuz and pledges support for Gulf defences
The United Kingdom has called for the Strait of Hormuz to reopen and pledged continued practical support for Gulf partners’ defences, warning the UN Security Council that Iranian attacks and disruption to shipping threaten security and livelihoods far beyond the region.
Ambassador Sarah MacIntosh, the UK’s Permanent Representative to the UN, said countries across the Gulf and the wider region had faced repeated Iranian attacks throughout 2026, targeting civilian areas, critical infrastructure and vital economic assets.
She said Security Council Resolution 2817 had sent a clear message that the attacks must stop and navigational rights and freedoms must be respected. International shipping and seafarers must be able to pass safely through the Strait of Hormuz in accordance with international law, as enshrined in the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.
Disruption to vital maritime routes had consequences for global trade, energy and food security, MacIntosh said, with the most vulnerable bearing the greatest cost. She condemned Iran’s attacks and what she described as attempts to hold the global economy to ransom.
The ambassador commended mediators, including Qatar, for working to prevent further escalation and secure a negotiated settlement restoring regional stability. Diplomacy remained the only route to a sustainable solution, she said.
MacIntosh also warned that the actions of Iran and its proxies, including recent attacks by Iranian-aligned groups in Iraq, risked triggering a spiralling regional conflict. She called on Tehran to end its support for such activity.
Turning to Yemen, she said the Houthis’ decision to resume conflict had deepened an already grave humanitarian crisis and further undermined regional peace and security. Renewed fighting had displaced more than 340,000 people, she said, while the Houthis’ continued siege of Taiz had driven food prices up by at least 50% and left hospitals running out of fuel and medicine.
The UK called for rapid, unimpeded humanitarian access so that essential supplies could reach people throughout Yemen.
MacIntosh expressed dismay at news of the death of UN employee Mohammad al-Shami in Houthi detention and echoed the UN Secretary-General’s call for an immediate, impartial investigation. She condemned the continued detention of UN, humanitarian, civil society and diplomatic personnel, demanding their immediate and unconditional release.
She also expressed solidarity with Saudi Arabia and Yemen’s internationally recognised government in the face of ongoing attacks, reaffirming their right to defend their security and sovereignty in accordance with international law.
Calling for the Houthis to halt their offensives immediately, MacIntosh reiterated UK support for UN efforts to secure a negotiated, inclusive political settlement led and owned by Yemenis. Gulf stability, she said, was essential both to the region’s people and to international peace and security, and the UK would continue working with partners to pursue it.