EU diplomacy chiefs will today discuss the possibility of resorting to the Strait of Hormuz in the Shields mission to protect shipping, European Union diplomacy chief Kaya Kalas said.
“It is in our interest that the Strait of Hormuz remains open and therefore we are also discussing what we can do about it from the European side,” said Callas, speaking to reporters ahead of a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels.
Callas mentioned several possibilities, including the use of the Aspides mission, which is currently deployed in the Red Sea. But to do so it is necessary to modify the current mandate of this mission, which was originally decided to protect merchant ships in the Red Sea from attacks by Houthi rebels, allies of Iran.
“We will discuss with member states to see if it is possible to actually modify the mandate of this mission,” explained Kalas. But, she added, “the question is to find out if member states are willing to actually use this mission.”
President Donald Trump at the weekend increased pressure on US and Chinese allies to send warships to the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil and LNG moves and on which Asian and European economies depend.
On March 9, France had spoken of a “purely defensive” international mission to reopen the strait, without specifying whether this should be done as part of the “Shields” mission.
“If we want to ensure security in this periphery, the simplest thing would be to use the mission we already have in place and maybe adapt it a little bit,”
“If we want to ensure security in this periphery, the simplest thing would be to use the mission we already have in place and maybe adapt it a little bit,”
“There is also the question of a coalition of volunteers on this, but we also have to see what would allow the Hormuz Strait to be opened as quickly as possible,”
The 27 could thus agree on common “criteria” acceptable to the US, which would be submitted to the Iranians, a diplomatic source explained.
