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Downing Street has announced that Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron, the French president, will co-chair the next meeting of the group of 40-odd countries exploring options for keeping the strait of Hormuz open after the Iran war ends. The meeting will take place in Paris on Friday.

Keir Starmer will lead a new cabinet committee to deal with the fallout from the Iran conflict, the Press Association reports. PA says:

The group – the Middle East response committee – has its first meeting today focused on efforts to reopen the strait of Hormuz, the shipping route vital for global oil and gas supplies.

The PM established the committee to deal with the domestic and international impacts of the war, which has driven up energy prices, caused stock market turmoil and exposed deep divisions between the US and its traditional European allies.