PARIS, April 17 (Reuters) – British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Friday that more than a dozen countries were ready to provide resources for a defense mission aimed at restoring freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.
France and the UK hosted a meeting in Paris of 49 countries to discuss preparations for a possible multinational defense mission to protect shipping in the Strait of Hormuz once conditions permit.
“We will take this process forward at a military planning conference in London next week where we will announce more details on the composition of the mission, with more than a dozen countries already offering assets,” Starmer told reporters alongside the leaders of France, Germany and Italy.
“Reopening the Strait is a global necessity and a global responsibility,” he said.
(Reporting by John Ireland in Paris and Sam Tabariti in London; Editing by William James)
