French and Japanese-owned ships make first Strait of Hormuz crossings after a month’s interlude due to war conditions
Sections of the Indian media have spread misconceptions over the meeting convened by the UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper on Thursday 2nd April regarding the situation around the Strait of Hormuz. Some drew far-fetched conclusions that the meeting marked the first step toward forming a coalition to restore safe passage, plans include clearing mines from the waterway in consultation with military planners in the coming weeks and so on.
We should not frighten the Indian community living in the Persian Gulf region when a military confrontation with Iran over the Strait of Hormuz is not even in the wildest dreams of anyone in western capitals. The US didn’t even attend the London meet.
The statement issued by the UK foreign office after the event does not contemplate coercive measures, leave alone a military solution. The London statement speaks of 4 action points: First, “increase diplomatic pressure on Iran, including through the UN”; second, “Explore co-ordinated economic and political measures, such as sanctions”; third, “work together with the International Maritime Organisation”; and, fourth, “Joint arrangements to support greater market and operational confidence.”
Interestingly, Canberra, one of the few participating countries with a credible maritime capability to mount amphibious operations categorically ruled itself out from any such wild adventure. The Australian FM who attended the London meeting since issued an unequivocal statement on April 3, which underscored:
“The focus of last night’s meeting was diplomatic and civilian initiatives countries could pursue to make the Strait of Hormuz accessible and safe. Ministers agreed on the importance of continued coordination and collective action.
“Australia is not taking offensive action against Iran and we are not deploying troops on the ground in Iran. The Australian Government continues to support de-escalation and the resolution of this conflict.”
“The longer this war goes on, the more significant the impact on the global economy will be.”
Equally, France openly opposed any military option. President Emmanuel Macron said attempts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz by military means are unrealistic, since such an operation would take an uncertain amount of time and expose participants to risks from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps [IRGC]. “This has never been the option that we’ve chosen, and we think it’s unrealistic,” Macron said.
Italy and Germany have also made clear their opposition to the entire US-Israeli aggression against Iran.
MEA chose to avoid any reference specifically to the Strait of Hormuz even in the title of its readout which is titled, “Foreign Secretary’s participation in the meeting hosted by UK on the situation in West Asia (April 02, 2026).” India did not sign up on the joint statement.
Meanwhile, Delhi the UN security Council postponed a vote scheduled for Friday on authorising the use of “defensive” force to protect shipping in the Strait of Hormuz from Iranian attacks following reservations on the part of 3 out of five veto-holding members — France, Russia and China.
China has taken a strong position. “Authorising member states to use force would amount to legitimising the unlawful and indiscriminate use of force, which would inevitably lead to further escalation of the situation and lead to serious consequences,” said Chinese ambassador Fu Cong.
Suffice to say, it is hard to see Russia and China supporting a resolution that treats stability in the Strait of Hormuz exclusively as a security issue. Also, disagreements over the resolution have arisen among the 10 non-permanent members of the UN Security Council. On its part, Tehran has forewarned against any intrusive resolution. “Any provocative action by the aggressors and their supporters, including in the UN Security Council regarding the situation in the Strait of Hormuz, will only complicate the situation,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said.
The Strait of Hormuz has a difficult — even formidable — geography. The coastline is not anything like the Normandy beaches. CNN carried a feature article last week titled Mines, missiles and miles of coastline: Why Iran has the upper hand in the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump in his speech on Wednesday regarding the war virtually acknowledged that the US understands that it cannot open the Strait of Hormuz through the use of force. He said sarcastically that it is up to countries dependent on the strait for economic livelihood, to open the strait.
The only way to resolve the crisis is through an agreement with Iran which of course requires that the concerned country is not hostile towards Iran, not sanctioning Iran or facilitating the US military operations against Iran from its territory. Provided it is a benign interlocutor, such a country can approach the Iranian authorities (IRGC) for a permit to take its ship through the strait. Certainly, in the present war conditions, the IRGC personnel will board the ship, inspect the ship’s cargo, verify its ownership, check the nationality of sailors on board, where the cargo was loaded and its destination, etc.
Once the IRGC green lights the vessel, it will give a code with which the ship can signal Iran’s coastal defences and go through the strait. China, India, Turkey, Japan, Bangladesh, South Korea, etc have shown the way by taking up the issue bilaterally with Iran.
The Strait of Hormuz lies in the territorial waters of Iran and Oman. These two countries are presently drafting a protocol for the joint management of the Strait of Hormuz.
Suffice to say, Iran may be gaining out of this situation. After all, it has already shaken off the embargo on its own exports and the US had to issue a waiver allowing its oil exports. Conceivably, Tehran can expect the acquiescence of the international community eventually to its de facto control of the Strait of Hormuz, which will be undoubtedly a historic shift in the geopolitics of the region. Some sort of modus vivendii amongst the regional states may also ensue once the war ends once it becomes clear that there is no military solution to the Strait of Hormuz.
Israel is spreading alarmist stories as part of its disinformation campaign that Saudi Arabia is following the footfalls of the UAE to get the US to intervene militarily to force open the Strait of Hormuz. But on the contrary, Saudis are working with like-minded countries to create underpinnings of regional stability in the fluid situation with the shift of tectonic plates. The leitmotif of the Islamabad meeting of FMs recently — Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia plus Pakistan — was actually more about regional and global stability than a meeting for JD Vance and Steve Witkoff with Iranian officials.
The Islamabad meeting reached some sort of an agreement following which the Pakistani Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar paid a hurried trip to Beijing. A major outcome of the visit has been a 5-point initiative by China and Pakistan on March 31 on the Gulf and Middle East Region with focus on immediate Cessation of Hostilities, start of peace talks as soon as possible, security of nonmilitary targets, security of shipping lanes and primacy of the United Nations Charter.
Significantly, two days later, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman also reconnected after some interlude to discuss and revive the pursuit of their congruent interests even today, including OPEC Plus. The Saudi readout omitted any reference to the Strait of Hormuz. Advantage goes too Tehran.