French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer are hosting an international conference on Friday in Paris to ensure Iran does not continue blocking the Hormuz Strait once the war ends.
European diplomats have said they believe a strictly defensive operation would be necessary after the war even if the strait was reopened as a confidence-boosting measure for the shipping industry.
Ahead of the meeting, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he would “do everything I can” to alleviate the impact of the Iran war and reopen the waterway. “It is very important that we build a coalition of countries around the principle that the ceasefire should be permanent, there should be a deal, and that the Strait of Hormuz is open," he said. Talks will include security co-operation, critical supply chains and support to industry, according to his office.
The meeting – the first jointly led by Paris and London – will conclude with a statement by the two leaders. In recent weeks, British and French defence ministries have held planning sessions to set up a strictly defensive naval mission in the strait once security conditions allow. "We need a diplomatic and political limb, we need a logistics and economic limb, and we need some military planning, and that is what we’re coming together to do today," Mr Starmer said.
Iran, Israel and the US have not been invited to the virtual gathering, which is expected to bring together representatives from around 30 countries. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni will attend in-person, while invitations have also been extended to Asian and Gulf countries. "China is welcome," an adviser to Mr Macron said, without detailing the level of Beijing's participation.
Critical mass
Talks started as Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi announced Iran had offered to reopen the strategic channel, which it had blocked since joint US-Israeli attacks started on February 28. However, Iranian arrangements would have to be met and the US has said nothing about its blockade on Iran's traffic.
“In line with the ceasefire in Lebanon, the passage for all commercial vessels through Strait of Hormuz is declared completely open for the remaining period of ceasefire,” Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on X. Ships can move on the “co-ordinated route as already announced” by Iranian authorities.
The aim is to signal to US President Donald Trump that Europe is bringing together a "critical mass" of states that agree on making sure that Iran does not mine the strait or impose a toll and limit its passage, the adviser said.
Mr Trump has criticised European Nato allies for not intervening to re-open the strait. They have responded it is not their role because they are not involved in the war and were not consulted by the US ahead of the attacks. Re-opening the strait by force is considered a high-risk operation at Iran's advantage because of the narrowness of the passageway.
Securing the strait would be to "the benefit of shipping and insurance companies in order to allow ships to navigate under conditions of suitable financial security," the adviser said, with the end goal of "returning to the situation prevailing before the war, or to a situation as close as possible to it".
The International Maritime Organisation will dial into the call to ensure the safety of seafarers and vessels, Mr Starmer's office said. The UK leader was last week in the Gulf to discuss the situation in the strait and more broadly in the region. A two-week ceasefire between the US, Israel and Iran will expire on Wednesday. A separate ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon went into force on Thursday night for 10 days.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Thursday said that he is ready to help secure the Hormuz strait after hostilities are over but preferably with a UN mandate. Efforts last month by Bahrain, supported by France, to have a resolution approved at the UN Security Council were vetoed by China and Russia. Berlin would also need German parliamentary approval.
A government source told Reuters that Germany could contribute Type MJ332-class minehunters or reconnaissance vessels, and that a naval logistics base in Djibouti could be used as a nerve centre.
