Sawt Falasteen - UK, France to host defence ministers meeting on Hormuz

The announcement came hours after Iran warned London and Paris against sending warships to the region.

"The Defence Secretary John Healey will co-chair a meeting of over 40 nations, alongside his French counterpart, Minister Catherine Vautrin, for the multinational mission's first Defence Minister's meeting," a British defence ministry statement said Sunday.

The virtual meeting follows a two-day gathering in London in April of military planners who thrashed out the practicalities of a multinational mission led by the UK and France to protect navigation in the key waterway following a sustainable ceasefire.

"We are turning diplomatic agreement into practical military plans to restore confidence for shipping through the Strait of Hormuz," Healey said.

It comes as France and Britain despatched warships to the Middle East.

France has sent its nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the Charles de Gaulle, to the region, and the UK on Saturday said it was sending a destroyer, HMS Dragon.

Both countries said the deployments were a "pre-positioning" ahead of any international mission to help protect shipping.

- Iran's warning -

HMS Dragon's deployment was part of "prudent planning" that would ensure the UK was ready to help secure the strait when conditions allowed, a ministry spokesperson told AFP.

But Iran's deputy foreign minister, Kazem Gharibabadi, earlier Sunday warned Britain and France their warships -- "or those of any other country" -- would meet "a decisive and immediate response".

"Only the Islamic Republic of Iran can establish security in this strait," Gharibabadi said.

Macron said later Sunday that France had had "never envisaged" a naval deployment in the Strait of Hormuz but rather a security mission that would be "coordinated with Iran".

Speaking to journalists in Nairobi, he said he was sticking to his position opposing a blockade from either side, and to "reject any toll" to ensure ships are able to pass through the strategic waterway.

Britain and France said last month that plans to secure the strait were coming together.

The British defence ministry said deploying HMS Dragon would strengthen the confidence of commercial shipping and support mine clearance efforts once hostilities end.

Before the US-Israel war on Iran started on February 28, about a fifth of the world's oil was shipped through the strait.

But that has been throttled since the war as Iran largely closed the strait, throwing global markets into turmoil and driving up oil prices. The US later imposed its own blockade of Iranian ports in response.

R.AbuNasser--SF-PST