Overview
- British officials say the UK is organizing a multinational mission to reopen the Strait of Hormuz once conditions allow, with officers embedded at U.S. Central Command and meetings held with France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Japan and Canada.
- The Royal Navy is preparing autonomous mine‑countermeasure gear, including the Harrier surface boat and Iver4 underwater drones, and has commissioned HMS Stirling Castle to carry them.
- The navy is seeking to charter large civilian ships as drone motherships and may convert Bay‑class support vessels, according to British officials quoted by The National.
- More than 30 countries signed a joint statement to work on reopening the waterway, and the UK offered to host a security summit with European, U.S. and Gulf partners.
- The United States is trying to speed the return of two minesweeping‑equipped littoral ships from maintenance in Singapore as Iran’s reported Maham 3 mines and recent attacks have deterred shippers and driven up energy costs.