For the first time since the start of the war, a Western-owned ship, the French CMA CGM tanker Kribi, has left the Persian Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz. This came just a day after French President Emmanuel Macron criticized Donald Trump. Macron had questioned the US president’s military ambitions and described the plan to open the strait by force as “unrealistic.”
Although the Iranian military has said the strait will remain closed to the US and Israel “in the long term,” ships from other countries (China, Pakistan, the Philippines) are already free to pass through. Tehran has reportedly set up a kind of “customs point” in the strait, charging up to $2 million for each crossing. Britain has already said it categorically rejects any demands to pay such fees. It is unclear whether the French ship paid for passage, but it was spotted sailing very close to the Iranian coast.
