More than a dozen countries said on Friday they were willing to join an international mission to protect shipping in the Strait of Hormuz when conditions permit, Britain said, just as President Trump said he did not need allies’ help.Some 50 countries joined a video conference chaired by France and Britain that followed on initial military planning and aimed to send a signal to Washington.French President Emmanuel Macron said the meeting had allowed them to send a united message to demand the immediate and unconditional reopening of the strait. “We all oppose any restriction, anything that would amount, in effect, to an attempt to privatise the strait, and obviously any toll system,” Macron said.He said part of French naval assets currently deployed in the eastern Mediterranean and Red Sea could be used for the mission. “We will take this forward with a military plan conference in London next week where we will announce more details, and over a dozen countries have already offered to contribute assets,” British PM Keir Starmer said.The initiative being discussed did not, for now, include Washington DC or Tehran, though European diplomats said any realistic mission would ultimately need to be coordinated with both.REUTERS
