Military assets are in place, awaiting a deployment decision
Despite the US signing an agreement with Iran to end hostilities and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, it remained unclear on Thursday morning when a multinational coalition to secure the key waterway could deploy.
US President Donald Trump signed the memorandum of understanding to halt hostilities between Washington and Tehran and reopen the Strait of Hormuz to shipping on Wednesday evening during a dinner at the Palace of Versailles in France. Esmaeil Baqaei, an Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson, quoted by state news agency IRNA, said the document “was finalised with the signatures of the presidents”.
Ahead of a meeting of NATO ministers in Brussels on Thursday morning, French Defence Minister Catherine Vautrin told Euractiv that a decision on whether the deal meant the so-called ‘coalition of the willing’ would deploy to secure navigation in the strategic waterway would not be taken until Friday. France co-chairs the grouping with the UK.
Initial talks on the deal’s implementation are scheduled to take place in Switzerland on Friday.
