Spain has decided to change course and participate in the videoconference that the French president, Emmanuel Macron, and the British prime minister, Keir Starmer, have convened this Friday in Paris to study ways to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, subjected to the double blockade of Iran and the United States. It will be the Minister of Foreign Affairs who participates from Barcelona, where he will attend the first summit between Spain and Brazil, according to sources from La Moncloa.
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Albares declined the invitation to participate in a first videoconference organized last March 26 by Starmer in London, attended by representatives of 35 countries. The argument given at that time by the Spanish side was that no initiative was wanted that could contribute to an escalation in the Middle East conflict while betting on a diplomatic solution.
Now, Spain has accepted the invitation extended by the French and British leaders to participate in a conference of “non-belligerent countries” willing to participate in “a multilateral and purely defensive mission in the Strait of Hormuz,” according to the statement released by the Élysée. The objective of this mission, it adds, will be “to restore freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz as soon as security conditions allow.”
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Spanish government sources admit that the refusal to participate in the first conference may have been misinterpreted and, therefore, have insisted that Spain is “very concerned” about the situation in the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20% of the world’s crude oil traffic passes, and defends the right to “free navigation” through it.
However, the Spanish government maintains its firm opposition to participating “in any military operation that may be developed linked to the Iran war, which includes an intervention in the Strait of Hormuz.” Nevertheless, it leaves the door open that, “when the war ends and always under the umbrella of the UN, an operation backed by the United Nations to guarantee security in the Strait” could be promoted in which Spain could participate. This last option, the consulted sources clarify, is still in a “very preliminary” phase and its implementation is conditioned on reaching a peace agreement and consolidating the ceasefire in the region.
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