The United States is pressing European allies to provide naval escorts for commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz after American forces declined the mission, citing unsustainable risk. The request comes as a US Marine Expeditionary Unit steams toward the Gulf from the Pacific, where it had been positioned to deter China. Senior American officials argue that European warships should help keep the waterway open, but the US Navy itself has chosen to steer well clear of the narrow passage.
Geography limits military options
The Strait of Hormuz gives Iran a geographic advantage that military planners acknowledge has no obvious solution. Even if the 2,500 deployable Marines seized Qeshm island on the Iranian side of the strait, they and any shipping they protected would remain within range of weapons systems based in Bandar Abbas, a mainland city of half a million people, and the mountain ranges behind it. Senator Lindsay Graham has proposed seizing Kharg island, more than 300 miles away at the far end of the Persian Gulf, but any task force would still need to transit the same strait the US Navy avoids.
What does Donald Trump expect from a handful or two handfuls of European frigates to achieve there in the Strait of Hormuz, which the powerful American Navy cannot manage alone?
Boris Pistorius, Germany's defence minister, put the question directly this week. His scepticism reflects a broader European consensus that the military logic for external participation is weak.
France leads Mediterranean deployment
While Washington looks east, France has assembled a European flotilla in the eastern Mediterranean, centred on Cyprus. The deployment includes French warships and contributions from other EU members. Emmanuel Macron's government presents the move as tangible proof that a French-led Europe can defend its own interests independent of NATO. The flotilla follows Paris's announcement that it will extend the protective umbrella of its independent nuclear deterrent across large parts of the continent.
Greek jets and frigates have also deployed to Cyprus, though officials in Athens say the mission is to protect ethnic kin and maximise Greek political influence rather than to defend British sovereign base areas on the island.
Britain caught between two poles
The United Kingdom finds itself in an ambiguous position. Prime Minister Keir Starmer's government has declined to join American strikes against Iran, but British sovereign base areas in Cyprus and RAF facilities in the UK host American assets used in the campaign. A single drone strike on RAF Akrotiri caused embarrassment but limited damage. The Royal Navy's carrier strike group is currently deployed in the High North, a mission announced after Donald Trump suggested the US might seize Greenland over Arctic security concerns.
Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey has called for a fully independent British nuclear deterrent, a position that would have been marginal only weeks ago. The shift reflects growing unease across the British political spectrum about the reliability of the American security guarantee.
Conservative and Reform positions shift
Opposition parties have struggled to articulate a coherent line. Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative leader, initially argued Britain should "stop the archer" by striking Iranian missile bases directly rather than merely intercepting incoming projectiles. In a subsequent Daily Mail interview she stated Britain "shouldn't have joined in" American-Israeli strikes but should also "not be neutral" and should "strike the missile and drone sites at source". Critics note this implies an independent British bombing campaign in the same airspace as US and Israeli jets, requiring the very coordination she says would constitute joining in.
Reform UK initially backed American and Israeli military action but reversed course after polling showed public opposition. Party figures including Robert Jenrick and Andrea Jenkyns have offered conflicting signals on potential British ground involvement.
European consensus emerges
Across the continent, governments from Italy and Hungary to the liberal centre now share the view that direct participation in the Gulf conflict is not in European interests. This convergence gives Starmer political cover to maintain distance from Washington's campaign. What appeared a bold stance weeks ago has become the mainstream position in Westminster and European capitals alike.
Diplomats suggest that when hostilities end, Europeans may participate in convoy escort and minesweeping in the Strait of Hormuz, but only at a price. Several capitals want a public American commitment to the territorial integrity of Greenland and Canada before deepening cooperation.
A moment of renegotiation
The episode marks a historic inflection point. American power, still immense, is showing strain. European leaders, long accustomed to following Washington's lead, are testing the limits of their own autonomy. Britain, no longer an EU member but not fully aligned with Washington, must decide whether its interests lie in bridging the Atlantic or deepening ties with the continent. The answer will shape European security architecture for decades.