He added: “It’s a discussion; we’re not at the point of decisions yet. It’s obviously a difficult question, that goes without saying, in relation to how you safeguard maritime traffic … But we are discussing that with the US, with Gulf partners and with Europeans.

“We cannot allow the war in the Gulf to turn into a windfall for Putin. Now it’s clear the US operation has massively weakened the military capability of the abhorrent regime in Iran. The question is, what comes next?”