Britain is thought to only have a ‘handful’ of minehunting drones in the Gulf as the Strait of Hormuz remains effectively closed. Sir Keir Starmer has felt the ire of Donald Trump after resisting the US President’s call for allies to send warships to help reopen the narrow waterway key for global trade.

The US President said he was “not happy” with the Prime Minister’s “terrible” response to the Iran war in the latest souring of relations between London and Washington. It is understood minehunting drones are one of the options at the UK’s disposal to help unblock Iran’s stranglehold amid worries the Tehran regime has laid sea mines. The Royal Navy has long had a minehunting capability in the Gulf, but its last vessel in the region, minehunter HMS Middleton, left Bahrain for the UK weeks before the outbreak of the war.

Defence Secretary John Healey has confirmed “autonomous minehunting capabilities” were “pre-positioned” in the region to help respond to Iranian mines in the Strait of Hormuz which connects the Persion Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.

According to The Times, it is believed he was referring to Remus reconnaissance drones — of which the UK has bought around 19, with not all in the Gulf.

Other autonomous minehunting systems are currently in UK waters, it is claimed.

Two different Remus models are understood to be operated by a small group of Royal Navy sailors from the Mine and Threat Exploitation Group stationed in Bahrain.

A photo shared by the group last month showed its latest rotation in Bahrain was made up of eight sailors.

With no Royal Navy ships left in the region — for the first time since 1980 — personnel would likely have to launch the minehunting systems off allied vessels, The Times reported.

Iran’s de facto closure of the Strait of Hormuz has caused oil and gas prices to sky rocket.

Around 20% of the world’s oil supply and liquefied natural gas passes through the chokepoint and a Treasury minister has refused to rule out petrol rationing amid the continued disruption.

Iran has said the Strait of Hormuz is “closed to our enemies”, with a number of tankers attacked in and around the passageway.

Iranian forces are still launching retaliatory barrages against targets across the Middle East in response to US-Israeli attacks, with the conflict approaching the four-week mark.