France President Macron reaffirms efforts to reopen Strait of Hormuz

Macron, speaking at a news conference in Athens alongside Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, said panic caused by geopolitical uncertainty can in itself lead to shortages.

"Our goal ​is to achieve a full reopening in the coming days and ​weeks, in accordance with international law, guaranteeing freedom of navigation without ⁠tolls on the Strait of Hormuz. Then things can gradually return to ​normal," Macron said.

TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanne pressed on Friday for the reopening of ​the strait, through which about a fifth of the globe's oil and gas supply normally flows.

Movement through the strait, which is also a key transport route for goods including fertilisers ​and pharmaceuticals, has been choked due to the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran, as Iran ​has seized container ships and the United States has mounted a blockade on Iranian ports.

"If ‌it ⁠lasts two, three months more, we are entering in a world of scarcity of energy, which Asian countries have already suffered," Pouyanne told the World Policy Conference in Chantilly, outside Paris. "You cannot have 20% of the oil and gas ​of the planet ​being stranded and ⁠not accessible without major consequences."

More than a dozen countries have said they are willing to join an international mission led by ​France and Britain to protect shipping in the strait ​when conditions ⁠permit, even as U.S. President Donald Trump has said he does not need allies' help.

"We're all in the same boat, and it's not a boat we chose, ⁠if ​I may say. We're victims of geopolitics and ​we're victims of this war that started several months ago," Macron said on Saturday.t