France has begun drafting a UN Security Council resolution with the United States aimed at establishing an international mission to restore vessel movements through the Strait of Hormuz, according to a Reuters report published by gCaptain. Diplomats said the initiative would focus on protecting commercial shipping and maintaining access to energy supplies.
The renewed effort follows discussions between French President Emmanuel Macron and US President Donald Trump on Monday evening alongside the UN General Assembly. Speaking after their meeting at Trump Tower in New York, Macron said they had considered several approaches. He indicated that diplomatic work could help increase transits by container ships and oil tankers even if a broader agreement remained out of reach.
Diplomats cited in the report said France wanted to circulate a draft to Security Council members soon, but they provided no timetable. Earlier French attempts to secure a resolution on the issue had been unsuccessful. Previous UN initiatives failed to win support from China and Russia, both of which hold veto powers, because of concerns that the proposals were biased against Tehran.
The latest proposal would seek to treat security in the waterway separately from broader disputes involving Iran, the diplomats said. It would emphasise countries’ common interest in freedom of navigation and reliable access to energy supplies. Under the approach described in the report, UN members would coordinate protection for merchant vessels without taking an offensive stance towards Iran, criticising the United States or tying the mission to other regional conflicts.
The diplomatic push comes as global oil prices surge, gCaptain reported, with additional concern that an advance by Houthi rebels in Yemen could put the strategic Bab el-Mandeb corridor at risk. Those pressures have raised hopes of a compromise at the Security Council. A French diplomatic source confirmed that Paris wanted to work with Washington and other partners on a resolution guaranteeing freedom of navigation through Hormuz, although the report gave no details of the proposed mission’s operational arrangements.