Donald Trump has claimed ships have started to move through the Strait of Hormuz, and will be fully opened by Friday, after an agreement had been reached to end the war in Iran.
The US president arrived in France for the G7 summit on Monday, a day after he announced the breakthrough in the conflict that further destabilised the region and led to a surge in global energy prices.
Sir Keir Starmer will be among the world leaders joining the US president at Évian-les-Bains in the Alps for the three-day summit, where the Iran deal and the continuing conflict in Ukraine will be among the issues on the table.
The reopening of the Strait of Hormuz will likely be top of the agenda, with the French President saying a joint operation between the UK and France to restore freedom of navigation in the Gulf region could begin “two or three days” after the deal is signed.
However, Trump claimed ships were already travelling safely through the crucial waterway.
“They’re doing a little hunting for a couple of mines that they’ve already found, but … ships are starting to go out now,” Trump said during a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron at the G7 summit.
He added: “I don’t think we’re going to need much help, because we have an agreement where it’s going to be open, and it’s toll-free. We had a little argument on that; it’s toll-free,” he said.
“I don’t think it’s a bad idea to have a ship or two up here from a few countries.”
En route to France, Trump had claimed in a Truth Social post that ships were “going along the Southern “Highway,” which is totally safe, secure, and pristine. There are other areas of travel, also!!!”
Speaking alongside Macron in Évian, Trump said the text of the memorandum of understanding between the United States and Iran would be released publicly, most likely after a formal signing ceremony planned for Friday in Switzerland.
The US president suggested he would not be at the ceremony, with Vice President JD Vance attending the event in Geneva as the US representative.
The combined threat of sea mines and possible attacks from Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard has kept ships away from the Strait of Hormuz, in effect closing the crucial waterway through which about one-fifth of the world’s oil travels in response to joint US-Israel attacks that began on February 28.
The US military has already begun searching for Iranian mines in the Strait, and an extensive post-conflict demining operation may be needed.
Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabad said they will refrain from any attacks in the Strait of Hormuz until the deal is signed, with Friday floated as a potential date to sign the deal in Switzerland.
International businesses will also want to ensure the conflict is over and the Strait is safe before they start operating in the region again. It will likely be months until business returns to normal.
Lebanon will also be high on the agenda, with Israel insisting it will not withdraw from land it has seized since the latest incursion began in March.
Iran has tied the interim deal over the war to halting Israel’s attacks on Hezbollah in Lebanon. Hezbollah has not commented on the deal.
Israel’s defence minister, Israel Katz, said Israel plans to stay “indefinitely” in territory it holds in Lebanon, as well as Syria and the Gaza Strip.
Iran has tied the interim deal over the war to halting Israel’s attacks on Hezbollah in Lebanon.
All G7 nations have urged Israel to halt its attacks on Lebanon, with France in particular being extremely critical of its actions.
The group’s leaders have also said they will discuss Ukraine, with more than a dozen people killed in recent days in Ukraine and Russia amid ongoing strikes between the two sides.
The G7 includes France, the United States, Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom. Guest nations at this summit include Brazil, Egypt, India, Kenya, South Korea, Qatar, Syria, Ukraine, and the United Arab Emirates.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expected to join the summit on Tuesday.
Starmer’s attendance also comes amid uncertainty around his future as prime minister.
Voters in Makerfield will be deciding on whether to send Andy Burnham back to Parliament later this week, and if he wins, a leadership challenge is expected to be launched to oust Starmer.
Labour MPs have been deeply unhappy with the prime minister, and talks about replacing him intensified after their crushing losses in the local elections.
Starmer was also critically weakened by the shock resignation of defence secretary John Healey last week over what he said was the failure to provide adequate funding for the long-delayed Defence Investment Plan.
With security issues so high on the agenda, the fact that Starmer was so openly accused of underfunding the British military from within his own ranks, when nations like the US and Germany are pouring money into theirs, will tarnish his image on the world stage.
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