French President Emanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Kire Starmer along with “some 30 participants” will work today in Paris to establish a mission to secure navigation in Sea Strait of Hormuz.

A key condition is to consolidate the fragile ceasefire between Iran and the US.

The leaders’ teleconference on the Strait of Hormuz will be joined by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

In the conference will be attended in person by German Chancellor Friedrich Murch and Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni, according to the French presidency, while the other participants “Europeans, Asians, from Middle East, even Latin America” will participate via video link.

The conference is expected to start at 14:00 (local time, 15:00 Greek time) and after its conclusion Macron and Starmer will make a joint announcement.

The French president has already proposed since March 9 the idea of a deployment to protect navigation in the Strait of Hormuz after the cessation of hostilities. France and Britain have begun planning it along with other countries.

“Freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz is an immediate priority, especially given the global economic impact of this conflict,” the French presidency noted.

Without the Americans

Since the outbreak of the war in Iran, the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20 percent of the world’s oil and gas passes, has led to increased energy prices that are putting a significant strain on the global economy.

Although a two-week ceasefire came into effect on April 8, the situation remains fragile after the failure of Iranian-American negotiations in Islamabad.

Tehran continues to block this strategic passage, and since Monday Washington has imposed a blockade on ships arriving from or departing to Iranian ports.

The US will not participate in this mission and will not take part in today’s conference, the French presidency stressed, despite the fact that Murch wanted Washington to participate.

“We will certainly do so in good consultation with the Americans, but we will not join forces with them simply because we are not parties to the conflict,” said Elise, which is seeking only countries that are not taking part in the hostilities to participate in this mission.

Neither mines nor tollgates

This mission, which will be “exclusively defensive” in nature, also presupposes a definitive end to hostilities between the US and Israel on the one hand and Iran on the other, Paris stressed.

Parallele assessed that the Strait of Hormuz should not be narrowed, adding that “no tolls will be accepted” — a possibility the Iranians have raised — and the pre-war status quo should be restored.

Each country wishing to participate in the mission will do so “according to its means.” France has a carrier, dozens of ships and about 50 aircraft in the region, Elliott noted. For its part, Berlin can contribute “to disarmament” or surveillance, according to a German government source.

An “international summit” will be held next week at the Permanent Joint Headquarters (PJHQ) in Northwoods, northwest of London, on the Strait of Hormuz, Downing Street said.