PARIS: The leaders of France and the UK will gather dozens of countries \u2014 but not the United States \u2014 on Friday to push forward plans to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a key oil route choked off by the US-Israeli war on Iran.<\/p>\n
The Paris meeting is part of attempts by sidelined nations to ease the impact of a conflict they didn\u2019t start and haven\u2019t joined, but that has sent the global economy reeling. After the war started on Feb. 28, Iran effectively shut the narrow strait though which a fifth of the world\u2019s oil usually passes.<\/p>\n
The US is not part of the planning for what has been branded the Strait of Hormuz Maritime Freedom of Navigation Initiative. In a post on X ahead of Friday\u2019s conference, French President Emmanuel Macron said the mission to provide security for shipping through the strait would be \u201cstrictly defensive,\u201d limited to non-belligerent countries and deployed \u201cwhen security conditions allow.\u201d<\/p>\n
Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer have spearheaded international efforts to increase diplomatic and economic pressure on Iran, which Starmer has accused of \u201cholding the world\u2019s economy to ransom.\u201d US President Donald Trump\u2019s announcement of a retaliatory American blockade of Iranian ports has raised the economic jeopardy even higher.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe unconditional and immediate reopening of the Strait is a global responsibility, and we need to act to get global energy and trade flowing freely again,\u201d Starmer said before the meeting.<\/p>\n
Military planning underway<\/p>\n
France and Britain also have led military planning meetings, in an echo of the \u201ccoalition of the willing\u201d assembled to provide security for Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire in that war.<\/p>\n
French military spokesman Col. Guillaume Vernet said Thursday that the mission is still \u201cin construction.\u201d<\/p>\n
Macron\u2019s office said participants will contribute \u201ceach according to its capabilities,\u201d stressing options to ensure safe passage through the strait will depend on the security situation after a lasting ceasefire.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat matters is that ship operators have all the means at their disposal to be sure their vessels will not be hit if they pass through the strait. That may require intelligence, mine-clearing capabilities, military escorts, communication procedures with coastal states, etc.,\u201d an official said, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with the French presidency\u2019s customary practices.<\/p>\n
Sidharth Kaushal, a research fellow in sea power at the Royal United Services Institute think tank, said mine-clearing and creating a warning system for maritime threats were more likely roles for the coalition than warships escorting commercial tankers though the strait.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou need huge numbers of vessels for that sort of thing, which nobody has,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Iran expert Ellie Geranmayeh, deputy head of the Middle East and North Africa program at the European Council on Foreign Relations think tank, said mine-clearing is an area where European countries and their partners could play a role.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey would be a better party to do this than the United States, because once you have US military doing this and lingering on Iranian shores, it creates a potential arena for Iran and the US to have miscalculations and get back into a sort of military tension,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Dozens of countries involved in talks<\/p>\n
Britain has discussed using mine-hunting drones, deployed from the ship RFA Lyme Bay, for a Hormuz mission.<\/p>\n
The war has highlighted the shrunken state of the Royal Navy, which has deployed just one major warship, destroyer HMS Dragon, to the eastern Mediterranean. France, which has the European Union\u2019s most powerful military, has sent its nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to the region, alongside a helicopter carrier and several frigates.<\/p>\n
More than 40 nations have taken part in diplomatic or military meetings led by France and the UK in recent weeks, though fewer are likely to commit military resources.<\/p>\n
Macron\u2019s office said about 30 countries are to attend Friday\u2019s talks, including some from the Middle East and Asia. The list has not been disclosed. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni are expected to attend in person, with others joining by video.<\/p>\n
The operation is partly a response to Trump, who has berated allies for failing to join the war and said reopening the strait is not America\u2019s job. The president has called allies \u201ccowards,\u201d said NATO \u201cwasn\u2019t there when we needed them\u201d and telling Britain: \u201cYou don\u2019t even have a navy.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI imagine there\u2019ll be some desire on the part of many European states, and potentially Canada, to demonstrate the ability to provide security in a way that\u2019s distinct from if not completely separate from the US and which also demonstrates a capacity for independent action,\u201d Kaushal said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow many states actually have spare capacity to offer to this is a pretty open question.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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