The comments come as peace talks between Iran and the United States have not yet resumed and a cease-fire is set to expire next week.
Oil markets shrugged it off, but the effort to hurt Iran could provoke retaliation that inflicts more damage on energy assets and the global economy.
The vessels exited the Strait of Hormuz on Monday, hours before a U.S. naval blockade took effect.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the U.K.’s diplomatic efforts are directed at keeping the vital waterway “open, not shut.”
Vice President JD Vance led the highest-level talks between the United States and Iran in nearly 50 years.
Iranian officials said that while Iran had approached the negotiations in good faith, the U.S. team had not gained the Iranian delegation’s trust.
In a televised address, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel sought to placate critics at home who say the war failed to achieve its goals.
The most fervent backers of the Islamic republic believe pausing the war for negotiations risks squandering what they see as a hard-won upper hand.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer of Britain is strengthening ties in Europe and the Middle East as the once-special relationship with America sours.
The war with Iran is preventing huge amounts of oil from flowing out of the Persian Gulf, but the prices that many people track don’t fully capture the scale of the disruption.