The planned operation aims to protect and reassure vessels using the strategic sea route with the ending of hostilities
A UK and French-led mission to ensure the safety of shipping with the reopening of the critical Strait of Hormuz waterway fills a gap in US capability, the head of Nato has said.
While very strong the US military lacked mine clearance assets, which could be provided by Britain and its European allies, according to the alliance’s secretary general Mark Rutte.
Ending Tehran’s stranglehold on the strategic waterway, which has disrupted global oil and gas supplies and driven up fuel and food prices, had been a key demand in peace negotiations.
US vice president JD Vance said millions of barrels of oil had been transported through the Gulf channel in the wake of Donald Trump signing an interim deal with Iran to end the nearly four-month war.
In response to the initial agreement, the price of oil fell to its lowest point since the conflict began on February 28.
However, shipping firms have said it will take time for the number of vessels using the sea route to return to pre-war levels because of the need to ensure secure transit with the removal of mines.
Leaders of G7 countries this week backed a planned international effort headed by Britain and France to enable shipping to pass safely through waterway once hostilities with Iran ended.
The proposed defensive operation includes the deployment of autonomous mine-hunting equipment.
Speaking at a meeting of Nato defence ministers in Brussels, Mr Rutte said: “What the French and the Brits are doing, they are leading this coalition of, I think it’s over 40 countries at the moment, of countries who have capabilities which can be helpful here, particularly when it comes to demining.
“You know, the US is very strong, but two things they miss.
“One is icebreakers, you don’t need them in the Strait of Hormuz, and the other thing is demining, and you need that now in the Strait of Hormuz, and Europe has that capacity, that capability well, really big.
“We have seen over the last couple of weeks that many European nations are pre-positioning these assets close to theatre.”
However, the deal reached between the US and Iran only secures safe, toll-free passage of the strait for 60 days, pending the outcome of a final agreement on Tehran’s disputed nuclear plans.
The pact leaves it to Iran and Oman, in conjunction with other Gulf states to “define the future administration and maritime services in the Strait of Hormuz”, although it states this must be “in line with the applicable international law”, which provides for freedom of navigation.
Speaking at a White House briefing, Mr Vance restated the administration’s position that international waterways “should be free of tolls”.
He said: “The final negotiations can set the terms of what comes afterwards.”
Under the terms of the agreement, he said Gulf countries, including Iran and Oman, “will figure out a proper security framework for the straits in the future”.
Mr Vance added: “What I mean by that is that we don’t ever want this to happen again, that’s not about tolling, that’s about ensuring that the straits are never used as a chokepoint for the global economy ever again.”
He went on: “So, what we’re going to do, of course working with our allies in the region, is to ensure that that is reflected in the final deal, and if that’s not reflected in the final deal, there’s not going to be a final deal.
“I keep coming back to this fundamental structural point of this negotiation, which is that we have all the cards.
“If the Iranians want the benefits of the bargain, they have to give us the things that are necessary to get those benefits.”
Meanwhile, Iranian state media said shipping had “normalised” at Iran’s southern ports with the lifting of the US blockade as part of the agreement, but added that the Strait of Hormuz remains supervised and under the control of it military and transit still required coordination.
