U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio conducted separate telephone consultations on Monday with Australia's foreign minister and the United Kingdom's foreign secretary to discuss developments involving Iran and the Strait of Hormuz, the State Department said in separate statements.
The department said Rubio's conversations - one with Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong and another with British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper - addressed "Iran and ongoing efforts to restore freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz." The comments were issued in separate statements following the calls.
Officials characterized the situation surrounding the strait as severe. The State Department said the Iran war has effectively closed the strait and produced what it called the biggest disruption to the energy market in history. Prior to the outbreak of hostilities, roughly 20% of global oil and liquefied natural gas shipments transited the waterway.
The department said that Iran has blocked nearly all vessels passing through the strait other than its own, and that the United States has imposed a separate blockade on Iranian ports.
According to the statements, the conflict began when the United States and Israel attacked Iran on February 28. In response, Iran carried out strikes on Israel and on Gulf states that host U.S. bases. The statements said that U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran and Israeli attacks in Lebanon have resulted in thousands of deaths and have displaced millions of people.
President Donald Trump has, the department noted, repeatedly asserted that Western allies of the United States have not been doing enough to support U.S. efforts in the war. The statements also relayed his observation on Monday that a ceasefire with Iran - which had been reached more than a month earlier - was "on life support."
The United States, Australia and the United Kingdom, the department said, have imposed sanctions on Iranian networks and individuals both during and prior to the war.
The State Department did not provide additional operational details of the calls in its public statements. The separate releases confined their substance to the topics of Iran, navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, and sanction coordination among the three countries.