EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Monday she had discussed with the United Nations the idea of freeing up transport of oil and gas through the Strait of Hormuz by replicating a deal that gets grain out of Ukraine during wartime.
Under the deal, Ukraine can export grain and related foodstuffs and fertilizers through the Black Sea, and merchant vessels and other civilian vessels are not attacked by Russia.
Kallas said she had spoken to U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres about the idea to unblock the strait, currently choked off due to the Iran war.
“I had talks with Antonio Guterres about whether it was possible to also have the same kind of initiative like we had (with) the Black Sea Initiative,” Kallas said.
A U.N. spokesperson acknowledged speculation about a possible U.N.-led initiative around the strait, but cautioned that the “stakes are too high” and that the world body will continue to work “discreetly.”
Guterres is due to travel to Brussels on Tuesday for informal discussions with European officials, Dujarric said.
Iran has effectively shut the Strait of Hormuz, amid the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, now in its third week. Iranian forces have attacked ships in the narrow channel between Iran and Oman, choking off a fifth of global oil supply in the biggest disruption ever.
Kallas said the closure of the strait was “really dangerous” for energy supplies to Asia but was also a problem for the production of fertilisers, which could lead to shortages of food.
Kallas said ministers would also discuss whether it was possible to change the mandate of the EU’s small Middle East naval mission, Aspides, which currently focuses on protecting ships in the Red Sea from Yemen’s Houthi rebel group.
Asked about the scepticism expressed by German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul on whether Aspides could be useful in the Strait of Hormuz, Kallas said: “Of course we need to also have the member states on board.”
(Reporting by Lili Bayer, Charlotte Van Campenhout and Andrew Gray;)
