Macron, Starmer Hold Summit on Hormuz  04/17 06:12

   The leaders of France and the U.K. gathered dozens of countries -- but not 
the United States -- on Friday to push forward plans to reopen the Strait of 
Hormuz, a key oil route choked off by the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.

   PARIS (AP) -- The leaders of France and the U.K. gathered dozens of 
countries -- but not the United States -- on Friday to push forward plans to 
reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a key oil route choked off by the U.S.-Israeli war 
on Iran.

   The Paris meeting is part of attempts by sidelined nations to ease the 
impact of a conflict they didn't start and haven't 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's oil usually passes.

   The U.S. 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's conference, French President Emmanuel Macron said the mission to 
provide security for shipping through the strait would be "strictly defensive," 
limited to non-belligerent countries and deployed "when security conditions 
allow."

   British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, facing political troubles at home, was 
greeted by Macron in the courtyard of the Elysee presidential palace on Friday 
afternoon.

   Macron and Starmer have spearheaded international efforts to increase 
diplomatic and economic pressure on Iran, which Starmer has accused of "holding 
the world's economy to ransom." U.S. President Donald Trump's announcement of a 
retaliatory American blockade of Iranian ports has raised the economic jeopardy 
even higher.

   "The 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," Starmer said before the meeting.

   Military planning underway

   France and Britain also have led military planning meetings, in an echo of 
the "coalition of the willing" assembled to provide security for Ukraine in the 
event of a ceasefire in that war.

   French military spokesman Col. Guillaume Vernet said Thursday that the 
mission is still "in construction."

   Macron's office said participants will contribute "each according to its 
capabilities," stressing options to ensure safe passage through the strait will 
depend on the security situation after a lasting ceasefire.

   "What 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.," an official said, speaking 
on condition of anonymity in line with the French presidency's customary 
practices.

   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.

   "You need huge numbers of vessels for that sort of thing, which nobody has," 
he said.

   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.

   "They would be a better party to do this than the United States, because 
once you have U.S. military doing this and lingering on Iranian shores, it 
creates a potential arena for Iran and the U.S. to have miscalculations and get 
back into a sort of military tension," she said.

   Dozens of countries involved in talks

   Britain has discussed using mine-hunting drones, deployed from the ship RFA 
Lyme Bay, for a Hormuz mission.

   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's most powerful military, 
has sent its nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to the region, alongside a 
helicopter carrier and several frigates.

   More than 40 nations have taken part in diplomatic or military meetings led 
by France and the U.K. in recent weeks, though fewer are likely to commit 
military resources.

   Macron's office said about 30 countries are to attend Friday's 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.

   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's job. The 
president has called allies "cowards," said NATO "wasn't there when we needed 
them" and telling Britain: "You don't even have a navy."

   "I imagine there'll be some desire on the part of many European states, and 
potentially Canada, to demonstrate the ability to provide security in a way 
that's distinct from if not completely separate from the U.S. and which also 
demonstrates a capacity for independent action," Kaushal said.

   "How many states actually have spare capacity to offer to this is a pretty 
open question."