Seoul. French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday the United States cannot complain about a lack of support from allies after deciding to launch the Iran war without consultation.

“They can hardly complain afterward that they are not being supported in an operation they chose to undertake alone. This is not our operation,” Macron told reporters in Seoul, South Korea. “What we want is for peace to be restored as quickly as possible.”

Macron also addressed criticism of NATO by US President Donald Trump, who has said he’s considering pulling the United States out of the alliance.

“When you have committed to an alliance, you live up to those commitments. You do not comment on them every morning. And the day there is a problem, you are there,” Macron said.

Hours earlier, Trump said US forces will keep hitting Iran “extremely hard over the next two or three weeks” and bring the country “back to the Stone Ages,” even though he argued that all of his administration’s military objectives have been met or exceeded.

Trump didn’t say anything in his Wednesday night address about negotiations with Iran or mention his latest deadline of April 6 for Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz, the critical waterway for global oil and gas transport. He has threatened to attack Iran's energy infrastructure if the Strait is not reopened.

Trump also did not offer a clear path to end the supply disruptions that have sent energy prices soaring around the world. Instead, he urged countries dependent on supplies that normally move through the strait to go out and “grab it” themselves.

Chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz
Ship traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains a trickle compared to before the Iran war, with remaining tanker traffic dominated by sanctions-evading tankers carrying Iranian oil, according to the Lloyd’s List Intelligence shipping data firm.

Traffic through the Strait is down 94% compared to a year ago.

Iran is enforcing its so-called “toll booth” screening system in which vessels must deviate from the usual shipping channel in the middle of the strait and detour north around Iran’s Larak Island.

Vessel operators are being asked to contact approved intermediaries of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps and provide information on ownership, cargo, and crew before being allowed to pass.

Despite the nickname, only two of the at least 63 ships that have taken the Larak Island route are confirmed to have paid, while others appear to have passed due to diplomatic intervention by home governments.

Macron said France considers it “unrealistic” to reopen the Strait of Hormuz through a military operation.

“There are people who advocate the idea of the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz by force, through a military operation, a position that has at times been expressed by the United States,” Macron told reporters Thursday during a visit to South Korea. “That has never been the option we have chosen, and we consider it unrealistic.”

Macron said a military operation “would take an infinite amount of time and would expose anyone passing through the strait to coastal threats from (Iran’s) Revolutionary Guard, who has capabilities, ballistic missiles and many other risks.”

The reopening of the Strait “can only be done in coordination with Iran,” through negotiations that would follow a potential ceasefire, Macron said.

France is pushing for an international mission involving European and non-European nations to escort oil and gas tankers and reopen the Strait of Hormuz after the most intense phase of the conflict is over.

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