Macron casts doubt on Trump’s Hormuz operation as France-US gap grows

PARIS — French President Emmanuel Macron cast doubt Monday on US plans to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, saying he did not understand what President Donald Trump’s Project Freedom initiative entails and stressing that only a coordinated effort between Iran and the United States can ensure the waterway’s safe and lasting reopening.

What happened: “I don’t know what this initiative really is,” Macron said Monday, referring to Trump’s Project Freedom operation aimed at reopening the Strait of Hormuz. Criticizing the American unilateral move, Macron added, “Above all, we hope for a coordinated reopening between Iran and the United States.”

Addressing journalists in the Armenian capital, Yerevan, Macron insisted that Europe will not participate in any US attempt to reopen the strait by force outside the framework of an agreed-upon deal with Tehran. He said that Europe has launched its own initiative to assist with reopening Hormuz once hostilities end but will not take part in any other American-led operation.

“If the United States is ready to reopen Hormuz, that is very good — that is what we have been asking for from the start. But we are not going to participate in any kind of live-fire operation within a framework that does not seem clear to me,” the French leader stressed. A coordinated Iran-US decision is the only viable path forward, he said, adding, “This is the only solution that will sustainably allow reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, ensure free navigation and do so without restrictions or tolls.”

Background: The United States and Europe have been at odds since the start of the joint American-Israeli operation against Iran on Feb. 28. European leaders consider the move illegal, as Washington did not seek a United Nations Security Council resolution to make it. Trump has criticized European allies for not assisting operationally in reopening Hormuz, but European leaders argue that such support cannot be expected after the operation was launched without prior consultation. As a result, France, Spain and the United Kingdom have refused to allow US aircraft carrying ammunition to pass through their airspace. The rift between the United States and Europe has continued to widen over the past two months, and no end is in sight.

Criticizing the White House’s negotiating strategy toward Tehran, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said last Monday, “The Iranians are clearly stronger than expected, and the Americans clearly have no truly convincing strategy in the negotiations either.” Angered by Europe’s reluctance to support his war effort, on Tuesday Trump accused Merz of thinking “it’s OK for Iran to have a nuclear weapon.”

Know more: On April 6, the White House posted and then deleted a video mocking the French president. Filmed at a private Easter luncheon, the footage showed Trump imitating Macron with a French accent and making disparaging remarks about his marriage. Macron later called the comments “neither elegant nor up to standard.”