Jan. 23 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. Ambassador to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization Ivo Daalder said the alliance will keep the Strait of Hormuz open in the face of Iranian threats to close the shipping channel.

European Union foreign ministers meet in Brussels today to discuss economic sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program, including the possibility of an oil embargo.

“I have not looked at the exact military contingency plannings that there are and how long that would take,” Daalder told BBC Radio 4’s “Today show. “But of this I am certain: the international waterways that go through the Strait of Hormuz are to be sailed by international navies including ours and the British and the French and any other navy that needs to go through the Gulf; and second, we will make sure that that happens under any circumstance.”

--Editors: Andrew Atkinson, Fergal O’Brien

To contact the reporter on this story: Robert Hutton in London at rhutton1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Hertling at jhertling@bloomberg.net.