Imagine paying extra just to sail through one of the world’s busiest oil routes. That’s exactly what France says it won’t let happen.

Attributed to cbinews.tv

So, things are heating up over the Strait of Hormuz again. On Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron came out swinging, telling Iran it can’t slap tolls on ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz. His message? “Everything” will be done to make sure no one gets charged to use that crucial shipping bottleneck.

This all follows a report from Iran’s Fars news agency, which claimed Tehran slipped a clause about “maritime service fees” into a framework deal with the United States aimed at ending the Middle East war. That deal was announced just hours later, according to cbinews.tv.

Speaking to TF1 television before the G7 summit in France, Macron didn’t mince words: “We defend international law, and we will do everything in our power to ensure there is no toll.” The summit, by the way, is set to include US President Donald Trump.

Details of the agreement? Still under wraps. Macron did let slip that the accord has already been signed “electronically”, with extra annexes due to be “finalised” on Friday. But he wasn’t keen to spill more: “I don’t want to enter into the details,” he said.

France isn’t just talking, though. Macron revealed a joint France-UK mission is ready to deploy “very quickly” to keep the Strait open. The French flagship aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle could be in the area “on a timescale of two to three days”.

“We do everything so that this accord is a reality and that Hormuz can reopen,” Macron told TF1. And Europe’s got skin in the game — reopening the Strait could help bring down energy and goods prices, and right now, European countries are “impatiently awaiting” that.

Is this a win for Tehran? Macron’s not so sure. “I would be patient and prudent,” he cautioned. He also pointed out France wasn’t part of the US-Israeli war against the Islamic Republic: “As you know, we didn’t participate in that offensive.”

For now, the goal is simple: get Hormuz reopened, with no tolls that could “enrich those in power.”

Macron also touched on Iran’s nuclear stockpile. He wants any remaining enriched uranium “neutralised” and placed under UN watchdog supervision. “Either taken out or diluted” and then looked after by the International Atomic Energy Agency, he said.

Source: cbinews.tv

Hashtags:

#StraitOfHormuz #Macron #Iran #FranceUK #ShippingNews #MiddleEast #EnergyPrices #G7 #InternationalLaw #cbinews