French President Emmanuel Macron said Thursday it would be unrealistic to launch a military operation to force open the Strait of Hormuz, after U.S. President Donald Trump urged allies to help reopen the vital waterway.
“Some people defend the idea of freeing the Strait of Hormuz by force via a military operation, a position sometimes expressed by the United States, although it has varied,” Macron told reporters during a trip to South Korea.
He said France has never supported that approach.
“It is unrealistic,” Macron said. “It would take forever and would expose all those who go through the strait to risks from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps,” Iran’s elite military force, “as well as ballistic missiles.”
Macron said he has been working with European and other partners to build a coalition to ensure freedom of navigation in the strait once hostilities end. He said such an effort would require engagement with Iran.
“What we have said from the beginning is that this strait must be reopened because it is strategic for energy flows, fertilizers and international trade, but that it can only be done in consultation with Iran,” he said.
Asked about Trump’s criticism of NATO allies and threats to withdraw the United States from the alliance, Macron declined to comment in detail.
“I don’t want to provide a running commentary on an operation the Americans have decided on their own with Israel,” he said. “They can deplore the fact they’re not being helped, but that’s not our operation. We want peace as soon as possible.”
Macron also said Trump’s remarks mocking him and his wife, Brigitte Macron, were “neither elegant nor commensurate” with the situation.