POLITICO: European allies withhold support for the US joint patrol plan in the Strait of Hormuz pending a durable ceasefire

POLITICO reported on Tuesday 28 July 2026, citing four British officials and one US official, that European allies are withholding support for Washington's plan to form a joint patrol in the Strait of Hormuz until an enduring ceasefire is in place in the war with Iran. US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has asked the United Kingdom and France to help lead the naval coalition, with UK Defence Minister Wes Streeting assisting the effort.

The report said the United States and Britain intend to convene an international conference in London to define each country's role and determine which warships would hunt sea mines or escort civilian shipping, but the five officials cautioned that the effort has not progressed far and that they did not expect movement soon. Streeting said on Sunday that the UK has not joined and will not join offensive US military action in Iran, but that it is fully aligned on freedom of navigation through the strait. Esmail Baghaei, spokesperson for Iran's Foreign Ministry, has said that what currently exists cannot be described as a ceasefire.

Shipping data cited in the report shows commercial traffic in the region at a near standstill: according to vessel-tracking firm Windward Intelligence, no oil tankers crossed the Strait of Hormuz on 27 July. Commercial crossings of Bab al-Mandab have fallen 22% since Yemen's Ansar Allah declared a blockade on 20 July, with tanker transits down 39% and Saudi-linked crossings down 46%.