France and Britain Launch a Multinational Peace Mission for the Strait of Hormuz

JAKARTA - President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday that France and Britain would work together on a "peaceful multinational mission" to restore traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, but the mission would be "separate from the warring parties."

Iran has tightened control of the Strait of Hormuz, through which about a fifth of the world's oil and LNG traffic passes daily, following Israel and the United States' attacks on the capital Tehran and a number of other cities on February 28.

The British-French initiative, announced by President Macron on the social media X, seems to be separate from the blockade announced by President Trump.

"In the coming days, together with Great Britain, we will hold a conference with countries that are ready to contribute with us in a peaceful multinational mission aimed at restoring freedom of navigation in the strait," President Macron said, launching Al Arabiya from AFP (13/4).

"This purely defensive mission, separate from the parties to the conflict, is intended to be deployed as soon as circumstances permit," he continued.

The State of the Mullahs and Uncle Sam's State last week agreed to stop hostilities for two weeks. However, the ceasefire talks between the warring parties in Pakistan over the weekend ended in failure.

US President Donald Trump responded by ordering his navy to blockade the Strait of Hormuz starting Monday.

President Trump also said on his Truth Social platform, "Other countries will be involved in this blockade", but did not mention which countries were involved.

Meanwhile, the US military said the blockade ordered by President Trump would begin at 14:00 GMT, applying to all ships leaving or attempting to dock at Iranian ports on both sides of the main waterways.

Separately, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Monday that Britain would not join the naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz announced by President Trump.