The United Arab Emirates is pushing for the US to forcefully reopen the Strait of Hormuz and is willing to assist in such a military operation, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday night.

The report said the Gulf state is also seeking a UN Security Council Resolution that would green-light such an operation, as it faces continued Iranian attacks.

An Emirati official told the Journal that the country’s diplomats have urged the US, along with unspecified European and Asian military powers, to establish a coalition to forcefully open Hormuz, and the UAE is looking into what military contributions it can make to help break Iran’s grip on the strait.

The UAE has also suggested the US should occupy Iranian-held islands in the Hormuz, including Abu Musa, which is claimed by Abu Dhabi, Arab officials said.

The UAE’s foreign ministry did not deny the report, saying that there was a “broad global consensus that freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz must be preserved.”

Gulf countries, most of which host US bases, have been repeatedly fired upon by Tehran during the US-Israeli campaign against the Islamic Republic, with concerns mounting over Iran’s closure of Hormuz and its use of the vital waterway, a conduit for a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas, as a bargaining chip.

While privately grumbling........

© The Times of Israel