France is holding diplomatic talks to build an international coalition to re-open the Strait of Hormuz, with partners that could include Japan and India, French Defence Minister Catherine Vautrin said on Wednesday.
Ms Vautrin was speaking as tension increased over the strategic waterway after Iran began laying mines to block commercial ships. The US responded by destroying 16 Iranian minelaying vessels.
Since the start of joint US-Israeli attacks on Iran on February 28, traffic through the Strait of Hormuz – through which about one fifth of the world's oil passes – has effectively come to a halt, causing oil prices to soar globally.
France's initiative to build a naval coalition to re-open the strait, which was announced last week by President Emmanuel Macron, is still in its “diplomatic” phase, Ms Vautrin told broadcaster France 2.
“Initially, it's about working with all the countries involved. When we talk about countries involved, it can [be] about Japan, India, or Europeans,” Ms Vautrin said.
“It is with representatives from all these different countries that a mission can be formed to discuss ... how to reopen navigation. We are very far from a physical approach around the strait. For now, we are in diplomatic negotiations.”
'Freedom of movement'
France has said it would use an existing European naval mission to deter Houthi attacks in the Bab Al Mandeb strait as a model. The mission, headquartered in Greece, consists of two French frigates, one Italian and one Greek.
“Thanks to this operation where we are working alongside the Greeks, Italians,and Spanish, we have facilitated the passage of 150 ships in the Red Sea," French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said in a separate interview with TF1. "It is, in a way, a similar mission that we want to implement in the Strait of Hormuz.
“We want to wait until the phase of very high-intensity hostilities ceases so that we can then have a mission in place that permanently guarantees this freedom of movement,” Mr Barrot said.
Questions have been raised about how to best organise convoys in the strait which is only 34km wide at its narrowest point. Mr Barrot has said that escorting ships would respond to attacks in self-defence, raising concerns that Europeans and other participating nations could be dragged into the war.
US Energy Secretary Chris Wright on Tuesday said the American navy had escorted an oil tanker through the Strait of Hormuz, before deleting the post. The White House later clarified no such escort had taken place.
The possibility of the US navy escorting ships remains on the table yet it appears Europeans want to set up a separate mission to signal it is not a co-belligerent in the war.
“The global economy should not be held hostage by a war between the US and Israel on one side and Iran on the other,” Mr Barrot said.
Hesitations
France has distanced itself from the war, saying it is neither involved nor supportive of it, but has avoided the harsher rhetoric of Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, who has described the war as dangerous and illegal. Major European states such as Germany and Italy have appeared to support the joint Israeli and US attacks on Iran.
For this reason, Global South leaders, including in India, may be hesitant to join a naval mission with the US's closest military ally. The war is unpopular with the public, who struggle to understand US President Donald Trump's end goal in Iran, said Chitrapu Uday Bhaskar, a retired Indian naval officer and director of New Delhi-based think tank the Society for Policy Studies.
“There is no doubt that countries in the Global South are all very adversely impacted by the closure of the Hormuz Strait – whether it's India or China or Japan,” Mr Bhaskar told The National. “But because of the politics around the war, I do not think that any of the major countries would want to get militarily associated with the United States or the EU at this point in time.”
India has in the past co-operated with a European-led mission against piracy in the Gulf of Aden, named Atalanta, without being formally integrated into it. The EU recently strengthened relations with India by signing a free trade deal after decades of talks. Mr Macron was also in India in February for a state visit.
France, which holds the rotating presidency of the Group of Seven intergovernmental forum, has also led discussions on how to mitigate rising oil prices. The G7 on Wednesday said they supported, in principle, the implementation of proactive measures to address the situation, including using strategic reserves. Mr Macron was expected to hold a call with G7 leaders later in the day.
