Western leaders have urged the Iranian regime to reopen the waterway, through which a fifth of the world\u2019s oil and liquefied natural gas transits. Prolonged closure is driving up global oil prices and damaging economic growth prospects across the EU. \u00a0<\/p>\n
Kallas, the EU\u2019s foreign policy chief, wrote on X<\/a> that \u201cunder international law, transit through waterways like the Strait of Hormuz must remain open and free of charge.\u201d<\/p>\n But the Iranian regime poured scorn on Kallas\u2019 assertion.<\/p>\n \u201cOh, that \u2018international law\u2019?! The one that the EU dusts off to lecture others while quietly green-lighting a U.S.-Israeli war of aggression \u2014 and looking the other way on atrocities against Iranians?!\u201d Esmaeil Baqaei, spokesperson at the Iranian foreign ministry, wrote on X<\/a>.<\/p>\n In a stinging rebuke, Baqaei said that \u201cno rule of international law forbids Iran, the coastal State, from taking necessary measures to stop the Strait of Hormuz being used for waging military aggression against Iran.\u201d<\/p>\n He added that \u201cunconditional transit passage\u201d in Hormuz is not possible after \u201cU.S.\/Israeli aggression brought U.S. military assets into the strait\u2019s backyard.\u201d<\/p>\n Several countries signed up to a joint statement<\/a> calling for the \u201cunconditional, unrestricted, and immediate re-opening of the Strait of Hormuz\u201d after French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer convened an international meeting in Paris<\/a> last week to discuss the situation.<\/p>\n