French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer hosted a multinational summit in Paris on Friday focused on reopening and securing the Strait of Hormuz. The summit convened hours before Iran announced the strait was completely open.
The United Kingdom, France, South Korea, and other nations are exploring involvement in what has been called a “defensive multilateral mission” to maintain open navigation through the Strait of Hormuz going forward.
About 20% of the world's crude oil and natural gas normally passes through the strait. The closure during the 2026 Iran war caused what some international experts called “the greatest energy security threat in history.”
Iran's earlier attempt to charge transit tolls of over $1 million per ship was rejected by UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper. The new defensive mission would aim to prevent any single nation from unilaterally controlling access to the strait.