Malaysia warns a US blockade of the Strait of Hormuz could severely disrupt global energy and fertiliser supplies, urging Washington to reopen the vital trade route.
REMBAU: Malaysia has formally urged the United States to reconsider its decision to blockade the Strait of Hormuz, warning the action threatens global energy security and economic stability.
Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan expressed deep concern that blocking the strategic waterway would halt merchant ships and vital cargo, including urea fertiliser, from passing through.
He stated he was unclear about Washington’s true purpose, especially given its previous calls for international cooperation to keep the route open.
“I don’t know the purpose because the Strait of Hormuz should not be blockaded,” Mohamad told reporters after officiating an event at UiTM’s Rembau Campus.
He recalled that Iran had previously agreed to open the strait contingent on the US accepting 10 points proposed during negotiations in Islamabad.
The minister warned that blocking the route would drastically worsen worldwide supplies of energy and critical materials like fertiliser.
“(Blocking the route) will further worsen the situation of energy supply throughout the world and other supplies such as urea fertilizer,” he said.
He emphasised that the global economy, agriculture, and energy sectors would face acute pressures as a result.
Mohamad therefore called for renewed negotiations and for the US to lift any form of blockade to allow trade to flow freely.
“So I ask America to reconsider this action and all parties to negotiate again…America needs to open any form of blockade so that trade routes can pass through there,” he added.
He also called on all parties, including Iran, to ensure the strait remains open and not held hostage to geopolitical conflicts.
“A war between America and Iran or Iran and Israel, that is their war, the world cannot be held as a ransom, for whatever purpose, and America cannot do that because the world will face big problems,” Mohamad asserted.
The US move was announced by President Donald Trump, who stated the US Navy would begin an immediate blockade and intercept ships that had paid tolls to Iran.
Trump’s declaration on Truth Social followed the collapse of US-Iran peace talks without an agreement.
Separately, Mohamad announced he had instructed Malaysia’s UN representative to consult on shortening the peacekeeping force mandate in Lebanon.
He argued the current conflict in Lebanon has made the peacekeeping force’s original role less relevant.
