Macron and Starmer Lead Summit on Restoring Hormuz Strait Maritime Security

France and the United Kingdom are convening dozens of countries to advance plans for a multinational maritime force to secure the Strait of Hormuz, a critical waterway that has been closed since Iran imposed a blockade on February 28.

The meeting, taking place at the Elysee presidential palace in Paris, is being chaired by French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, with around 30 to 40 countries participating in person or by video conference.

The talks will focus on the Strait of Hormuz Maritime Freedom of Navigation Initiative, a defensive mission aimed at restoring free passage through the waterway once a lasting ceasefire in the US-Israel war on Iran is in place.

European leaders have warned that the ongoing closure threatens consumers with higher inflation, food shortages, and flight cancellations as jet fuel supplies dwindle. Over 20,000 seafarers are trapped on board hundreds of vessels caught in the blockade.

“The unconditional and immediate reopening of the strait is a global responsibility, and we need to act to get global energy and trade flowing freely again,” Starmer said, accusing Iran of “holding the world’s economy to ransom”.

The initiative mirrors Europe’s earlier efforts to assemble a security force for Ukraine and carries similar conditions: deployment only when the conflict ends and security conditions allow.

A French presidential official stated that allies would need “an Iranian commitment not to fire on passing ships and a US commitment not to block any ships leaving or entering the Strait of Hormuz” before any mission could proceed.

Washington’s absence from the discussions is deliberate, with Macron emphasizing that the mission to provide security for shipping through the strait would be “strictly defensive” and limited to non-belligerent countries.