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France Says Eight Nations Back European-Led Naval Mission in Strait of Hormuz

Sputnik News

15:10 20.01.2020(updated 15:37 20.01.2020)

Multiple European states began mulling a 'maritime security mission' in the Persian Gulf last summer amid simmering tensions between the UK and Iran, but the initiative seemed to have been temporarily frozen after London announced that it would be joining a US-led maritime coalition in the region.

France, Germany, Belgium, Denmark, Italy, Greece, the Netherlands and Portugual have expressed political support for a European-led naval mission in the Strait of Hormuz, France's Foreign Ministry announced Monday.

Paris has pushed for an alternative European-led maritime security coalition in the Persian Gulf since late last year after refusing to sign on to the US-led coalition last summer. Prior to Monday's announcement, the Netherlands, Denmark, Italy and Spain expressed interest in the French-led initiative.

The UK, Australia, Albania, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United States have joined the US-led coalition, formally dubbed 'Operation Sentinel', with Israel also reportedly providing unspecified support.

Tensions in the Persian Gulf began escalating in May 2019, after the US announced that it would be deploying a carrier strike group to the region to counter an unspecified 'Iranian threat' to its interests. The move was soon followed by a series of mysterious sabotage attacks, tanker seizures and the shootdown of a $220 million US drone over the Strait of Hormuz in June, which brought tensions between the US and Iran to the brink of war.

The UK initially favoured a European-led maritime coalition following the seizure of a British-flagged oil tanker in the Gulf by Iran's Revolutionary Guards. That move was a tit-for-tat response to the earlier seizure of an Iranian tanker in off Gibraltar by local authorities and British Royal Marines. Both of the ships were later released from custody, and the UK abandoned the European-led security venture in favour of the US-led operation.

© Sputnik