NATO Allies Discuss Hormuz Shipping Plan

NATO’s top commander, US Air Force Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, convened a videoconference on Wednesday with defense chiefs from interested allied countries to facilitate possible contributions to efforts supporting freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.

A spokesperson for Grynkewich stressed that the effort is not an official NATO mission. Instead, the alliance is using its ability to bring allies together and assess the capabilities they could contribute.

NATO allies are seeking to avoid direct involvement in the conflict with Iran, focusing instead on plans outside the alliance to reopen the strait, through which about one-fifth of the world’s traded oil passed before February.

France and the UK are leading efforts to build a coalition of about a dozen countries to guarantee safe passage through the strait once tensions ease or the conflict ends. Any long-term arrangement, however, would ultimately require Iran’s agreement.

(Reuters, max)