European countries including France have opened talks with Tehran seeking to negotiate a deal to guarantee safe passage for their ships through the Strait of Hormuz, according to people briefed on the efforts, in a bid to restart energy shipments from the Gulf.
Shipments through the narrow chokepoint at the entrance to the Gulf, through which about a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas normally flows, are negligible after Iranian attacks on tankers and a vow from the country’s new supreme leader to keep it closed.
European capitals have opened the tentative discussions in an attempt to restart oil and gas exports without expanding the conflict, three officials briefed on the talks told the FT, as shipping companies look to western navies to provide potential escorts for their tankers.