France Struck a Deal With Iran Over Strait of Hormuz? A Stab in the Back Again?

AP Photo/Alex Brandon

Well, who would have guessed that France would wave the white flag and cut a deal with our enemy?

Not me! Up until now, France has been a staunch ally, right?!

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First, we learned that France joined Russia and China to veto a UAE-proposed resolution to create a coalition to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, because of course they did. And now we are getting reports that Iran has cut some sort of deal with Iran to guarantee safe passage for their ships through the Strait. 

Earlier today, a French cargo ship was the first Western craft to brave the passage of the Strait of Hormuz.

In addition, an empty LNG ship changed course to make passage through the Strait, hugging the coast of Oman. Iran has indicated that it is working with Oman to lower tensions, and this is likely related to that. It could also be an attempt to evade Iranian threats, though. 

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Whatever the case may be with those tankers, it's pretty clear that France has decided to cut a separate deal with Iran, almost ensuring that post-war NATO relations will be permanently hurt. The Europeans will blame Trump, and vice versa. 

FRANCE JUST SIDED WITH RUSSIA AND CHINA AGAINST THE US AT THE UN

France is a NATO ally.

A NATO ally just blocked an American resolution at the United Nations.

Alongside Russia.

Alongside China.

The Strait of Hormuz carries 20% of the world's oil.

Iran has shut it down for US and Israeli ships.

Nobody at the UN will authorize force to reopen it.

Not even America's own ally.

Hours after France blocked the vote, Iran let a French ship through the strait.

France cut a deal with Iran behind America's back.

This is obviously a gamble on Macron's part, potentially sacrificing his relationships not only with the United States but also with the Gulf states, which are keen to see the Iranian threat eliminated. 

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French military officials have said that reopening the Strait by military means is a fool's errand, which suggests that they are willing to allow Iran to become a toll collector for shipping to the Gulf. It is a remarkable but arguably pragmatic position if you are willing to give up on maintaining freedom of navigation around the world. 

The US has been the guarantor of that navigation, especially in the South Pacific, where tensions run high, and piracy is fairly common, as it in the Gulf region. It would be interesting to see whether Trump reconsiders US policy with regard to protecting European trade. 

France has already made clear that it wants no part in any conflicts over Taiwan. It is now trying to recruit others to "stand up to America." 

Good luck with that. 

Quite the ally. 

It looks like many European countries have given up on NATO entirely, or are convinced that they can ride out Trump's wrath and wait for a Democratic Party president. 

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I'm pretty sure that's not wise. When an admirer of NATO like Marco Rubio starts questioning why we are defending Europe, that's a bad sign. When Mark Rutte, who is the top man in NATO, says it's insane to turn their backs on the US, it's a potential disaster. 

HOLY SMOKES. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte just dropped MAJOR TRUTH NUKES on Europe, siding with Trump and saying they NEED America to survive

"If anyone thinks here that the European Union or Europe can defend itself without the US, KEEP ON DREAMING! YOU CAN'T! We can't!"

"Europe — if you REALLY want to go it alone, and those of you who are planning for that, FORGET that you can ever get there with 5% [GDP for defense spending]. It will be 10%! You have to build up your own nuclear capability!"

"That costs billions and billions of euros. You will lose them. In that scenario, you would lose the ultimate guarantor of our freedom, which is the U.S. nuclear umbrella. So, hey, good luck!" 

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Ironically enough, while Great Britain and France both are nuclear powers, only France has an independent means of using them. Great Britain's delivery system is based on US missiles, over which are leased by the US to Britain. 

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