French President Emmanuel Macron and South Korean President Lee Jae-myung agreed on Friday to work together to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz and ease global economic uncertainties caused by the Iran war.
Macron told Lee at the start of the meeting that the two countries can play a role in helping to stabilise the situation in the Middle East, including the Strait of Hormuz, according to South Korean media.
At a joint televised briefing afterward, Macron underscored the need for France and South Korea to cooperate to help reopen the strait and de-escalate Middle East animosities, while Lee said the two affirmed “their resolves to cooperate to secure the safe shipping route in the Strait of Hormuz.”
The two leaders did not take questions and did not elaborate on how they would help reopen the strait, the narrow waterway between Iran and Oman through which about one-fifth of the world’s oil passes.
Lee said he and Macron also agreed to expand cooperation in technology, energy and other areas. South Korean and French officials also signed agreements to cooperate on nuclear fuel supply chains, jointly invest in an offshore wind project in southern South Korea and to collaborate on critical minerals.
The summit in Seoul came as US President Donald Trump slammed allies for not supporting the US and Israeli military campaign.
In a speech on Wednesday, Trump said Americans “don’t need” the strait but the countries who do “must grab it and cherish it.”
“Let South Korea, you know, we only have 45,000 soldiers in harm’s way over there, right next to a nuclear force, let South Korea do it,” Trump said. “Let Japan do it. They get 90% of their oil from the strait. Let China do it.”
Macron has said reopening the Strait of Hormuz through a military operation was unrealistic.
South Korean officials have said they were in contact with Washington on the issue and that Seoul wasn’t considering paying Iran transit fees to secure fuel shipments through the strait.
The United States stations about 28,000 troops in South Korea, not the 45,000 stated by Trump. The US troop deployment in South Korea is meant to deter potential aggressions from North Korea.
Warning from Iran
Meanwhile, Iran warned the UN Security Council against any “provocative action”, ahead of a scheduled vote on a draft resolution on the Strait of Hormuz that ended up being postponed.
“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.
Araghchi was speaking ahead of a scheduled Security Council vote on a draft resolution mandating a force to protect shipping through the Strait of Hormuz Friday.
It was later announced that the vote was postponed, with no new date scheduled.
The 15-member body was set to vote on a draft resolution brought by Bahrain on authorising the use of “defensive” force to protect shipping in Hormuz from Iranian attacks, according to the official programme.
The Strait of Hormuz, a shipping lane vital to global energy flows, has been all but shut since the United States and Israel launched strikes against Iran on 28 February.
Additional sources • AP, AFP