France and Britain will co-host a summit this week to discuss a “coordinated, independent, multinational plan” to safeguard shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Monday.
Britain had convened “more than 40 nations who share our aim to restore freedom of navigation” and the summit will discuss ways to protect shipping “when the conflict ends,” Starmer said.
Britain and France will work on a “peaceful multinational mission” that would be “separate from the warring parties,” French President Emmanuel Macron said earlier Monday.
Preemptive US-Israeli strikes on Iran in late February sparked a region-wide war and brought traffic through the Strait of Hormuz to a near standstill, blocking a key route for global oil and gas shipments.
Iran and the United States last week agreed to a two-week cessation of hostilities, but ceasefire talks between the warring sides in Pakistan over the weekend ended in failure.
US President Donald Trump responded by ordering his navy to carry out a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz starting Monday.
Trump also said, on his Truth Social platform, that “Other Countries will be involved with this Blockade,” but did not specify which ones.
The UK-French initiative, which Macron and Starmer announced on X, appeared to be separate from Trump’s announced blockade.
On April 2, a UK-led diplomatic meeting of some 40 countries demanded “the immediate and unconditional reopening” of the vital shipping route.
Macron said the upcoming conference would involve “countries prepared to contribute alongside us to a peaceful multinational mission aimed at restoring freedom of navigation in the strait.”
“This strictly defensive mission, separate from the warring parties to the conflict, is intended to be deployed as soon as circumstances permit,” he said.
The US military said the blockade of the Strait ordered by Trump would begin at 1400 GMT, and apply to all ships leaving or seeking to dock at Iranian ports on either side of the key waterway.
Starmer said Monday that Britain will not join the naval blockade announced by Trump.
“We’re not supporting the blockade,” he told BBC Radio 5 Live, adding that it was vital to get the Strait reopened.
“It is, in my view, vital that we get the strait open and fully open, and that’s where we’ve put all of our efforts in the last few weeks and we’ll continue to do so,” Starmer said.
Britain had minesweepers in the region, he said, and while he could not discuss operational matters, the military capability was “focused from our point of view on getting the strait fully open.”
Starmer said Britain was facing pressure to join the war, but he would not do so unless there was a “clear lawful basis” and a “clear thought-through plan.”
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
Source:
www.timesofisrael.com
