Operation Aspides: EU to discuss extending naval mission to Strait of Hormuz

Brussels: EU foreign ministers will Monday discuss extending the bloc's Red Sea naval mission to help reopen the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz, the bloc's top diplomat Kaja Kallas said.

The Iran war has virtually halted activity in the key waterway, through which a fifth of the world's crude supplies and a substantial amount of gas normally run -- sending oil prices soaring.

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"It is in our interest to keep the Strait of Hormuz open, and that's why we are also discussing what we can do in this regard," Kallas told journalists in Brussels ahead of the talks.

An option on the table would be to change the mandate of the EU's naval mission in the Red Sea, Operation Aspides, Kallas said.

She suggested this would be the "fastest" way for the 27-member bloc to boost security in the Strait of Hormuz, where Iranian retaliatory attacks to a US-Israeli bombing campaign have largely halted maritime traffic.

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"If we want to have security in this region, then it would be easiest to actually already use the operation that we have in the region, and maybe a change a bit," she said.

But it remained to be seen whether EU member states were willing to use it to that end, Kallas added.

A "coalition of the willing" could also be considered, Kallas added, without providing further details.

Launched in 2024 to prevent attacks on trade vessels by Iran-backed Houthi rebel forces, Aspides currently has three warships -- one French, one Greek and one Italian.

French President Emmanuel Macron said last week that Paris and its allies were preparing a "defensive" mission to reopen the strait.

He has also pledged to increase France's contribution to Aspides, with two additional frigates "over the long term".

On Sunday US President Donald Trump urged NATO allies to help open the Strait of Hormuz, warning the alliance faced a "very bad" future if they did not.