Britain and France are set to co-chair a landmark virtual meeting of defence ministers from more than 40 countries on Monday, focused on military contributions to a multinational mission aimed at resuming safe commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz — the narrow waterway between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula through which roughly a fifth of the world's oil normally passes.

UK Defence Secretary John Healey and his French counterpart Sébastien Lecornu will preside over the videoconference, described as the first ministerial-level gathering in the framework of the escort mission. Participating nations are expected to pledge capabilities in two key areas: mine-clearing operations and naval convoy escort. France has already dispatched its nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle through the Suez Canal toward the Gulf, while Britain announced Saturday it would deploy the destroyer HMS Dragon to the region. Both governments have characterised these movements as precautionary pre-positioning, intended to ensure readiness once conditions on the ground allow the mission to proceed.

French President Emmanuel Macron, speaking at a press conference in Nairobi during an African tour, sought to reassure Tehran by stressing that any deployment would be coordinated with Iran and aimed strictly at enabling freedom of navigation for essential goods such as food, fertilisers, and fuel. He reiterated that France opposes any blockade by any party — a pointed reference to both Iran's closure of the strait to commercial vessels and a US naval blockade of Iranian ports. Macron added that deploying forces inside the strait itself had