Published on •Updated
A proposal for a new US-led coalition to reopen the Strait of Hormuz would complement and not compete with a similar mission spearheaded by France and the UK, France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said on Friday.
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Speaking in Abu Dhabi, Barrot said he had briefed Gulf allies on the UK-France initiative which was now at an “advanced” stage.
It comes after a US State Department announced on Thursday the “Maritime Freedom Construct” (MFC), an initiative that will “take steps to ensure safe passage, including providing real-time information, safety guidance, and coordination to ensure vessels can transit these waters securely.”
The crucial strait, which normally carries one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas, has been effectively blockaded by Iran since the start of the war, sending prices soaring and choking trade networks.
Washington’s own blockade of Iranian ports and vessels further curtailed traffic through the strait.
The UK and France have led talks on a separate maritime effort, recently holding a meeting with more than 50 countries.
The US mission is “not of the same nature as the one we established … it comes as a sort of complement”, Barrot said.
“It is not in competition with the initiative we have launched and on which we are focused.”
The Wall Street Journal reported that a diplomatic cable called on US embassies to press foreign governments to take part in the US-led effort.
Asked whether France would join Washington’s initiative, Barrot said he could not comment at this stage.
“The planning has been finalised,” for the UK-France mission, Barrot said. “I have come to present the concept of this mission to a number of our closest partners in the region.”
US President Donald Trump has lashed out at allies’ reluctance to get involved in the US-Israeli war on Iran and previously urged oil-reliant nations to take responsibility for reopening the Straight of Hormuz.
Iran has vowed not to reopen the waterway as long as the US blocks its ports.
Policy imposition
Meanwhile, Iran’s judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei said on Friday that Tehran remained open to talks with the US but would not accept what he called a policy “imposition.”
“The Islamic Republic has never shied away from negotiations … but we certainly do not accept imposition,” Ejei said in a video carried by the judiciary-run Mizan Online website.
“We do not welcome war in any way; we do not want war, we do not want its continuation,” he said.
He insisted that Tehran was “absolutely not willing to abandon our principles and values in the face of this malicious enemy in order to avoid war or prevent its continuation.”
Iran and the US held a single round of talks in Pakistan in mid-April, but they ended without a breakthrough and have since stalled.
Nuclear programme
Meanwhile, Iran’s new Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei defiantly vowed to protect the country’s nuclear and missile capabilities, which Trump has sought to curtail through air strikes.
In another statement read out on state television, he allegedly said the only place Americans belonged in the Persian Gulf is “at the bottom of its waters” and that a “new chapter” was being written in the region’s history.
The younger Khamenei has not been seen in public since taking over as ayatollah following the killing of his father and predecessor Ali Khamenei in the war’s opening salvos on 28 February, prompting questions over his condition.
His remarks come as Iran’s already shaky economy is reeling as its currency rial hit a new low, while its oil industry is being squeezed by the US blockade on its ports.
Additional sources • AP, AFP
