UK and France to move Strait of Hormuz mission with crunch army assembly inside days

Keir Starmer has announced the UK and France will lead a mission to secure the Strait of Hormuz ‘as soon as conditions allow’ – branding it a ‘global necessity’ to get the shipping route open

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The UK and France will lead a “peaceful” mission to protect the Strait of Hormuz to prevent economic chaos, Keir Starmer has announced.

The Prime Minister said military planners from more than a dozen countries will meet in London next week to iron out details of the mission, which will include mine clearance. He said it would be launched “as soon as conditions allow” – describing opening the shipping route as a “global necessity and a global responsibility”.

Standing alongside French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni, Mr Starmer said: “I can confirm that, along with France, the UK will lead a multinational mission to protect freedom of navigation as soon as conditions allow.

“This will be strictly peaceful and defensive as a mission to reassure commercial shipping and support mine clearance. We invite all nations with an interest in the free flow of global trade to join us.

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Lizzy Buchan

“Some have already indicated their readiness to contribute. We will take this forward with a military planning conference in London next week, where we will announce more detail on the composition of the mission, and over a dozen countries have already offered, to contribute assets.

“But look, reopening the strait is a global necessity and a global responsibility.”