UK, France to host multinational meeting on mission to escort ships through Strait of Hormuz

[LONDON] More than 40 nations will meet on Monday (May 11) to outline their military contributions to a European-led mission to escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz once there’s a stable ceasefire.

The countries are expected to offer demining, escorting and air policing capabilities as part of a defensive naval mission led by the UK and France, designed to reassure commercial ships attempting to pass through the waterway.

“We are turning diplomatic agreement into practical military plans to restore confidence for shipping through the Strait of Hormuz,” said UK Defence Secretary John Healey, who will co-chair Monday’s gathering alongside his French counterpart Catherine Vautrin.

Iran’s deputy foreign minister responded that any such plans would be considered an escalation of the US-Israeli war on Iran and would be met with a military response.

“Any deployment and stationing of extra-regional destroyers around the Strait of Hormuz, under the pretext of ‘protecting shipping’ is nothing but an escalation of the crisis, the militarisation of a vital waterway, and an attempt to cover up the true root of insecurity in the region,” Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said.

Iran’s response would be “decisive and immediate”, he said.

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Iran has effectively shut the Strait of Hormuz, through which about a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas typically flows, after war erupted with US-Israel strikes on Feb 28. The US has since imposed a naval blockade. The disruption has upended oil and gas markets, sending fuel prices soaring and putting pressure on consumers worldwide.

The UK will deploy one of its warships – the HMS Dragon, capable of destroying guided missiles – as part of the mission, which will only begin once a sustained ceasefire or peace deal is agreed to.

US President Donald Trump has previously criticised Britain and other Nato nations for their reluctance to commit naval forces to help open the Strait of Hormuz. He also called out the UK for offering to send aircraft carriers much later than he said the US needed them, mocking the ships as “toys”. BLOOMBERG