Britain and France have voiced hope that a military plan to protect the Strait of Hormuz was coming together and would succeed in restoring trade flows through the vital passage.
At a two-day meeting in London, a dedicated operational planning group on Wednesday presented a decision brief to military planners for a multinational mission led by the UK and France to protect navigation in the key waterway, top defence officials said.
“We are confident that real progress can be made,” UK defence minister John Healey and his counterpart French minister for armed forces, Catherine Vautrin, said in a joint statement on Thursday.
“By building on our common purpose, strengthening multinational coordination and setting the conditions for effective collective action, we can help reopen the Strait, stabilise the global economy and protect our people.”
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The conference is taking place at the Permanent Joint Headquarters in northwest London, the UK’s command centre for overseeing and managing joint military operations.
“Turning diplomatic momentum into action demands sharp planning, frank discussion and firm commitments from allied and partner nations,” Healey and Vautrin added.
They recalled the “severe economic consequences” the blockade of the Strait has beyond the Gulf region, warning it was “hitting working people and particularly the most vulnerable in our societies”.
Iran vowed Wednesday it would not reopen the Strait of Hormuz as long as the United States continues to blockade Iranian ports.
