Europe Drafts Post-Crisis Plan to Secure Strait of Hormuz, Aims to Exclude US and 'Belligerent' Parties

European officials are drafting a post-crisis security plan for the Strait of Hormuz that explicitly aims to exclude the United States and other 'belligerent' parties from the operation, according to a WSJ report. The plan, described as ambitious and speculative, is being formulated as Europe watches from the sidelines while the US conducts a month of heavy airstrikes on Iran, potentially becoming bogged down in the region. The core objective is to eventually remove the United States from the equation, allowing only 'neutral' countries to oversee the clearing and securing of the strategic chokepoint, which remains blockaded with both warring sides claiming control.

The proposal envisions a scenario where both Iranian and American forces step aside, creating a vacuum to be filled by a coalition of European or other neutral naval assets—potentially including small French warships. This framework is predicated on the main crisis being over, raising immediate questions about its feasibility. The plan's internal contradiction is stark: it seeks to sideline a key belligerent, the US, while simultaneously requiring the cooperation of another primary actor, Iran, to voluntarily withdraw and accept a foreign-led operation in its backyard.

The initiative signals Europe's desire to assert independent strategic influence and secure energy flows without direct US military leadership, but it faces profound practical and political hurdles. It assumes a level of post-conflict stability and mutual concession between Tehran and Washington that does not currently exist. The plan's viability hinges entirely on a resolution to the ongoing blockade and conflict—a resolution it does not itself provide. For now, it remains a theoretical contingency, highlighting European anxiety over regional instability and a potential power vacuum, rather than an actionable roadmap.