🔶 Germany and France: Iran should restore freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz

“France and Germany’s Defense and Security Council” held a meeting on July 17, 2026 (26 Tir 1405) in the German city of Neuroni(g)h. This strategic session, attended by Friedrich Merz, Germany’s chancellor, Emmanuel Macron, the president of France, and the defense and foreign ministers of the two countries, was held amid a situation in which the European continent is grappling with war, an increasing rise in composite (hybrid) threats, and multiple crises in its neighborhood.

In the joint final statement of the summit regarding the war in Iran and the Strait of Hormuz crisis, the two countries, while welcoming an understanding reached between the United States and Iran with mediation by Pakistan and Qatar, emphasized “rights and freedoms of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz in accordance with international law, and without paying any kind of cost or fees.”

The two countries have asked Iran to “refrain from endangering further negotiations through tensions created by itself or its military activities.”