UAE could join any US-led effort to secure Strait of Hormuz

The United Arab Emirates may join a U.S.-led effort to protect shipping in the Strait of Hormuz after Iran all but shut the vital waterway to ships as Tehran wages war with Israel and the United States, a senior Emirati official said on Tuesday.



Anwar Gargash, the diplomatic adviser to the UAE president, said talks were ongoing and no formal plan had been agreed, but that "big countries" in Asia, the Middle East, and Europe bore responsibility for ensuring the flow of trade and energy.



"This is something that is in the interest of everybody," he told an online event hosted by the American think tank the Council on Foreign Relations. "Everybody has a responsibility."



Several of Washington's allies have already rebuffed President Donald Trump's call to send warships to escort tankers through the critical waterway, with some criticizing the U.S. and Israel for failing to consult them before launching the war on February 28.