May 13 (UPI) — Britain has pledged drones, fighter jets and a warship to the multinational mission to protect shipping vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz.
Britain’s Defense Secretary John Healey announced the package Tuesday during a virtual summit of more than 40 nations involved in the defensive mission to protect freedom of navigation through the important energy maritime transit route.
“The crisis in the Middle East affects British families, British companies and Britain’s economy. We must meet this moment,” Healey said in a statement on X.
“We must have a hard focus on this crisis, as the months ahead will define the fortunes of our nation over the next few years.”
The mission has not yet begun operations.
Some 20% of global petroleum liquids consumption flows through the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has restricted since Feb. 28, when it was attacked by the United States and Israel.
Though the war has been halted by a fragile cease-fire, the choking off of the energy shipments has caused gas prices to surge and nations to deal with energy crises.
To alleviate the strain, Britain and France last month announced a multinational mission to keep the strait open.
On Tuesday, Healey pledged advanced autonomous mine-hunting equipment, Typhoon jets, advanced British military mine-clearance specialists, HMS Dragon and the Royal Navy’s modular Beehive system, which can deliver autonomous Kraken drone boats to sense, track and identify potential threats and defeat them.
The Ministry of Defense said HMS Dragon was already en route to the Middle East, while RFA Lyme Bay continues to be upgraded with new cutting-edge uncrewed equipment to serve as a “mothership for autonomous systems.
“With our allies, this multinational mission will be defensive, independent and credible,” Healey said in a statement.
In a statement Wednesday, Australia, a member of the mission, announced its intention to contribute an E-7A Wedgetail aircraft to the effort.
“We want to see this conflict end, the Strait of Hormuz open and freedom of navigation resume,” Australia’s Minister of Defense Richard Marles said in a statement.
“The longer this conflict goes on the more significant the impact on Australia will be. Our government is doing all we can to shield Australians from, the impacts.”
Iran has previously warned Britain, France and the other nations involved in the mission against interfering with the strait.
On Sunday, Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi described the deployment of military assets to the region as an escalation of the ongoing crisis and a militarization of the waterway.
“The Strait of Hormuz is not the common property of extra-regional powers; it is a sensitive waterway adjacent to coastal states, and the exercise of sovereignty by the Islamic Republic of Iran over this strait and the determination of its legal arrangement is Iran’s right as a coastal state,” he said in an online statement.
“We remind them that, whether in times oof war or peace, only the Islamic Republic of Iran can establish security in this strait and will not allow any country to interfere in such matters.”
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