UK ‘not supporting’ U.S. Iran blockade, France’s Macron confirms talks

Britain “does not support” the US blockade of Iranian ports, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Monday, insisting the country would not be “dragged” into the Iran war.

This comes as President Emmanuel Macron confirmed that France and the UK will co-host a conference in the coming days aimed at restoring freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.

Macron did not explicitly rule out French participation in the US blockade but said the planned conference would create a “strictly defensive” mission that was “peaceful, multinational” and “separate from the combatants”.

Britain’s Starmer told BBC Radio 5 Live on Monday: “We do not support the blockade and all the guidance (diplomatically, politically and politically).” [in terms of] “The capability – we have the minesweeping capability, I won’t go into operational issues, but we have that capability – from our point of view, it’s all focused on fully opening the Bosphorus.”

“What we’ve been doing over the last few weeks – and that’s part of what I discussed with the Gulf countries last week – is bringing countries together to keep the strait open, not closed.”

Starmer’s comments came after US President Donald Trump signaled that other countries would help the US enforce a blockade of ships entering or leaving Iranian ports, which will begin at 10 a.m. ET on Monday.

The move was announced after weekend talks between Washington and Tehran failed to reach an agreement to end the Middle East conflict.

Speaking to reporters on Sunday, Trump said, “The blockade will come into effect at 10 o’clock tomorrow,” adding that “other countries are working to prevent Iran from selling oil.”

But he did not say which other countries would help, and CNBC requested further comment and clarification from governments in Europe and the Middle East on whether they were considering helping the United States.

Both European and Gulf states had previously been reluctant to become involved in the conflict, wary of escalating it as Washington’s “war of choice” rather than necessity.

Germany also signaled that it would not participate in the blockade; government sources told CNBC on Monday that Trump’s comments were “a vague statement that is not based on any new facts.”

Berlin has repeatedly rejected any military involvement in the Iran war, and the government repeated that view on Monday: “In recent days, the federal government has commented on various occasions regarding possible involvement and its conditions. These statements are still valid.”

France’s Macron said in a post on channel X that the country would host a conference “with the United Kingdom and countries willing to join us” for “a peaceful multinational mission aimed at restoring freedom of navigation in the Bosphorus.”

He added: “This purely defensive mission, which will be separate from the warring parties, is intended to be deployed as soon as the situation permits.”

Starmer said British citizens were affected by the Iran war with high energy costs and did not want them to “pay the price” of the conflict. Asked whether he held Trump personally responsible for the impact on Britain’s energy bills, Starmer said it was Iran that was restricting navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.

“We, the United Kingdom, have been very clear that we will not be dragged into this war, and we are not, but we are equally involved in defensive action,” the Prime Minister said.