About “thirty participants” will take part in today’s conference call in Paris on Sea of Hormuz.
The teleconference is co-chaired by French President Emanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Kir Starmer, with the aim of a mission to secure the Strait of Hormuz when conditions allow, Elysee said.
This conference, in a hybrid format, will bring together in Paris, in addition to Macron and Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Murch and Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni. The other participants, from countries in Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Latin America, will participate via teleconference, the French presidency clarified.
We want to “build a credible proposal that is essentially that of a third route between the maximum pressure previously exerted by the United States on Iran and the resumption of war,” Elise stressed. As a consequence, the United States will not be associated with this mission and, furthermore, will not attend Friday’s conference.
Earlier, Chancellor Murch said he wants to discuss possible US participation in a mission to Hormuz, which contradicts France’s intention not to involve the countries involved in the war.
French Economy Minister Roland Lesquier said yesterday (Thursday) that the Strait of Hormuz should be fully reopened “but not at any price,” rejecting the idea of paying a toll as G7 member countries seek to limit the impact of the Middle East war on the economy.
The focal point of that war “is in the Strait of Hormuz,” Mr. Lesquire said in response to a question from the French Press Agency in Washington. “We need it to be opened, but not at any price (…) I don’t want to pay that one dollar to cross the strait,” said the minister in Emmanuel Macron’s government.
The Strait, through which a fifth of the world’s oil and gas consumed under normal circumstances passes, has been effectively closed by Iran’s decision since the US-Israeli war against the Islamic Republic began on February 28; Tehran now imposes a de facto toll.
