Source: Radio New Zealand
Prime minister Christopher Luxon has taken part in a virtual meeting of world leaders overnight to discuss efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Supplied / Christopher Luxon via X
The prime minister has taken part in a virtual meeting of world leaders overnight to discuss efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade earlier confirmed Christopher Luxon was scheduled to be on the group call of up to forty world leaders focussing on unlocking the strait through diplomatic means.
In a statement posted to social media, Luxon said the conflict in the Middle East had driven up the price of fuel and could impact other everyday goods.
“Freedom of navigation, international law, stable and predictable trade routes are essential to our economy. The same goes for our friends who are hurting across the Indo-Pacific and our Pacific Islands neighbours,” he said.
“While we were meeting, it was encouraging to see Iran announce it would re-open parts of the Strait. Of course, this still remains a very fragile situation and it is an important moment to work together with partners.”
Christopher Luxon on the call. Supplied / Christopher Luxon via X
Over a dozen countries offer to play role in Hormuz mission, Starmer says
More than a dozen countries said they were willing to join an international mission to protect shipping in the Strait of Hormuz when conditions permit, Britain said, just as US President Donald Trump said he did not need allies’ help.
Some 50 countries from Europe, Asia and the Middle East joined the video conference chaired by France and Britain that followed on initial military planning and aimed to send a signal to Washington.
Iran, which said it was ready to open the strait, has largely closed it to ships other than its own since the start of US-Israeli airstrikes against it on 28 February. On Monday (local time), Washington imposed a blockade on ships entering or leaving Iranian ports.
Trump has called on other countries to help enforce the blockade and has criticised NATO allies for not doing so, but just as the Paris talks concluded, Trump said he had told NATO to stay away.
Britain, France and others say joining the blockade would amount to entering the war, but that they would be willing to help keep the strait open once there was a lasting ceasefire or the conflict ended.
More talks next week
French President Emmanuel Macron said the meeting had allowed them to send a united message to demand the immediate and unconditional reopening of the strait, through which around a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas usually passes, and restoration of free passage.
“We all oppose any restriction, anything that would amount, in effect, to an attempt to privatise the strait, and obviously any toll system,” Macron told reporters.
He said part of French naval assets currently deployed in the eastern Mediterranean and Red Sea could be used for the mission.
“We will take this forward with a military plan conference in London next week where we will announce more detail on the composition of the mission, and over a dozen countries have already offered to contribute assets,” British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said.
The initiative being discussed did not, for now, include the United States or Iran, though European diplomats said any realistic mission would ultimately need to be coordinated with both.
France’s President Emmanuel Macron (L) escorts British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in the courtyard as part of a meeting of allies to consider sending a multinational force to ensure security and free-flowing trade in the Strait of Hormuz, at the presidential Elysee Palace in Paris on April 17, 2026. LUDOVIC MARIN / AFP
Resources will depend on situation, official says
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said his country was prepared to contribute to the mission, adding that input from the US would also be “desirable” and that he did not want the issue to become a “stress test” for transatlantic relations.
Several diplomats said the mission might never materialise if the situation in the Strait of Hormuz returned to normal.
Others said shipping companies and insurers could seek such a deployment during a transitional phase to provide reassurance.
“It can involve intelligence sharing, mine-clearance capabilities, military escorts, information procedures with neighbouring countries and more,” a senior French official said.
“The objective is clear, and the resources deployed will naturally depend on the situation.”
– RNZ / Reuters
– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
