Starmer and Macron to hold summit in bid to reopen Strait of Hormuz after Trump’s blockade Downing Street confirmed the summit will take place in Paris on Friday Sir Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron will co-host a summit in Paris this week to continue efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. International leaders will gather on Friday in an effort to come up with a plan to ensure the vital trading route can remain open to shipping, after Donald Trump placed a blockade on it. The prime minister has made efforts to reopen the Strait a priority, after its closure has seen oil prices around the globe soar. A Downing Street spokesman said: “The summit will advance work towards a coordinated, independent, multinational plan to safeguard international shipping once the conflict ends.” Mr Macron has previously said the countries participating in the initiative would work on a “strictly defensive mission, separate from the warring parties to the conflict” which “is intended to be deployed as soon as circumstances permit”. In Westminster, a new Cabinet committee has been established to deal with the fallout from the Iran conflict. The Middle East Response Committee was having its first meeting on Tuesday to consider the situation in the Strait of Hormuz, the shipping route vital for global oil and gas supplies. This is a breaking story, more to follow... Join our commenting forum Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their repliesComments
Starmer and Macron to hold summit in bid to reopen Strait of Hormuz after Trump’s blockade Downing Street confirmed the summit will take place in Paris on Friday Sir Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron will co-host a summit in Paris this week to continue efforts to reopen the Strait…
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International mediators have proposed a 10-day ceasefire between the United States and Iran, according to a senior Iranian official cited in reports. The measure is described as intended to reduce hostilities and allow renewed talks on a prior interim agreement.
Both sides are assessing next steps in the current regional security situation.
Reports indicate that a US-Iran ceasefire has broken down amid renewed fighting, with the potential impact of mediation efforts by Pakistan, Qatar, and Oman remaining unclear. Earlier diplomatic steps included a June memorandum of understanding between the parties for further negotiations and talks hosted in Geneva in February.
The summary also references Europe’s historical role in diplomacy, including the 1814-15 Congress of Vienna.
Donald Trump stated in a Fox News interview that his representatives had spoken with Iranian officials an hour earlier and that those officials wanted to make a deal to end the conflict, though he noted they had broken prior agreements and expressed uncertainty about whether one would be reached.
He added that people do not want to die and that Iran would need to proceed carefully to avoid further losses. The remarks come amid an ongoing US-Iran conflict that has involved casualties and shipping disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz, with some social media users criticizing the repetition of similar statements.
Why the Iran-US ceasefire is falling apart Iran and the US have resumed fighting because they don’t see each other as ‘reliable negotiating partners’, says analyst Ali Vaez. Neither Iran nor the United States seems able to deliver a “knockout blow at an acceptable price” to the other side, and both know “they have no choice other than engaging in diplomacy”, but they’re not ready to make uncomfortable concessions, argues Ali Vaez, director of the Iran Project at International Crisis Group.
Vaez tells host Steve Clemons that Tehran and Washington are trying to “enforce their own interpretation” of the ceasefire agreement they signed last month. President Trump has become “frustrated” with diplomacy because he’s not seeing “the kind of quick results that he likes to see”, Vaez says.