Hopes of turning the fragile ceasefire between the US and Iran into a more permanent peace agreement remain in doubt, as the US and Iran exchanged fresh attacks over the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday.

The strait, through which around a quarter of global maritime oil supplies transits through, has been closed since the US and Israel illegally attacked Iran during negotiations over its nuclear programme in February. While the US has released unprecedented amounts of its oil reserves to make up for the shortfall, prices could once again go above $100 per barrel if a peace deal isn’t reached soon and the strait reopened.

The knock-on effect has caused a global economic crisis. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development has warned that if the war isn’t ended soon, rural parts of Britain will become especially susceptible to diesel shortages while other sections of the economy would be impacted by low supplies of jet fuel. The OECD also expects inflation to peak later this year, adding to the country’s cost of living pressures already felt by ordinary people in this country.

Rather than addressing these problems at home or holding the US and Israeli governments to account for causing this global crisis, the British government is preparing for war. Under pressure to cut welfare spending in order to fund this militarisation – which includes buying nuclear-capable F-35As jets – Keir Starmer has delayed announcing the government’s Defence Investment Plan. It is now expected to arrive around the time of the NATO summit in July.

On Tuesday, 9 June, CND will be holding a webinar to discuss how the Middle East crisis is impacting us here in Britain and why our government needs to invest in people’s needs rather than making us poorer to pay for war.

Tuesday, 9 June
7:00pm-8:30pm
Online, register here

With guest speakers: Khem Rogaly, Principal Research Fellow at Common Wealth; Lindsey German, Convenor of Stop the War; Dyfrig Jones, UCU President-Elect; Nick Dearden, Director of Global Justice Now. Chaired by Sophie Bolt, CND General Secretary.

You can find more upcoming national and local CND events on our events page here.

Trump in talks to send more US nukes to Europe

The Financial Times has reported this week that the Trump Administration is in talks with NATO members to increase the number of US nuclear-capable bombers stationed in Europe. Six NATO countries are currently cleared to host US nuke jets like the F-35A and weapons like the B61-12 bomb - Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, Germany, Turkey, and Britain.

The report mentioned that Poland and other NATO members in central and eastern Europe are most keen to host the nukes jets. Such a deployment would put US nuclear weapons on Russia’s borders.

Responding to news of the discussions, CND General Secretary Sophie Bolt said:

“Reports of these talks shows that far from NATO pulling out of Europe under Donald Trump’s presidency, its nuclear presence is only increasing. This is not going to make us any safer. On the contrary, stationing these nuke jets on Russia’s borders would seriously increase the risk of a nuclear confrontation between NATO and Russia. It would only further undermine the chances of a ceasefire in this devastating war. More nuclear-capable F-35s in Europe simply means more profits for US arms companies. It’s time to halt the nuclear expansion and close down US bases in Europe for good.”

Read more of the story on CND’s website.