The Daily Populous Saturday March 21st, 2026 evening edition
Authored by mofa.gov.ae and submitted by Goodluckeveryonee

Joint Statement on the Strait of Hormuz Sat 21/3/2026 General

Joint statement from the leaders of the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Japan, Canada, Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Denmark, Latvia, Slovenia, Estonia, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Czechia, Romania, Bahrain, Lithuania, and Australia on the Strait of Hormuz

We condemn in the strongest terms recent attacks by Iran on unarmed commercial vessels in the Gulf, attacks on civilian infrastructure including oil and gas installations, and the de facto closure of the Strait of Hormuz by Iranian forces.

We express our deep concern about the escalating conflict. We call on Iran to cease immediately its threats, laying of mines, drone and missile attacks and other attempts to block the Strait to commercial shipping, and to comply with UN Security Council Resolution 2817.

Freedom of navigation is a fundamental principle of international law, including under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

The effects of Iran’s actions will be felt by people in all parts of the world, especially the most vulnerable.

Consistent with UNSC Resolution 2817, we emphasise that such interference with international shipping and the disruption of global energy supply chains constitute a threat to international peace and security. In this regard, we call for an immediate comprehensive moratorium on attacks on civilian infrastructure, including oil and gas installations.

We express our readiness to contribute to appropriate efforts to ensure safe passage through the Strait. We welcome the commitment of nations who are engaging in preparatory planning.

We welcome the International Energy Agency decision to authorise a coordinated release of strategic petroleum reserves. We will take other steps to stabilise energy markets, including working with certain producing nations to increase output.

We will also work to provide support for the most affected nations, including through the United Nations and the IFIs.

Maritime security and freedom of navigation benefit all countries. We call on all states to respect international law and uphold the fundamental principles of international prosperity and security.

DexterBotwin on March 21st, 2026 at 16:14 UTC »

Japan is bringing PlayStations.

But seriously, couldn’t this just be more posturing and fence sitting? Trying to get some breathing room from the Trump admin without actually committing to getting involved.

“Readiness to contribute” could be things like offering neutral territory for both sides to talk or supporting a UN resolution, not military.

Kreol1q1q on March 21st, 2026 at 15:23 UTC »

Seems like an attempt to leverage the broader international community to solve the global energy price problem caused by this US and Israeli attack. When the US eventually gets tired of killing people and accomplishing nothing, the best bet the rest of the world has may be to organize something legitimate through the UN as a means of unblocking the strait without getting involved the conflict between Israel, the US and Iran. Emphasis on “may”, of course, I have no idea if the UN would be functional enough to do something when there’s such a potential for a US or Russian veto.

Curtain_Beef on March 21st, 2026 at 14:55 UTC »

Norway already went out and said that this in no way means they'll be militarily involved.