At a time when the economic crisis is peaking in Europe, particularly in the energy and agricultural sectors, the British Ministry of Defense announced on Sunday that John Healey, the country's defense minister, together with his French counterpart Sébastien Lecornu, would chair the first meeting of defense ministers of the multinational mission, with the participation of more than 40 countries.
Meanwhile, Maud Bregeon, the spokesperson for the French government, claimed: "From the very beginning, we have emphasized clearly and consistently that this action is purely defensive in nature and its aim is to reopen the Strait of Hormuz."
Additionally, the British Ministry of Defense, regarding the deployment of the HMS Dragon destroyer to the region, claimed that the purpose of this action is "to restore confidence in commercial shipping."
This European effort to build a consensus around what is called the "reopening of the Strait of Hormuz" is being put forward at a time when keywords such as "defensive nature," "commercial confidence-building," and "maritime confidence-building" in the political discourse of London and Paris resemble, more than any sign of a responsible approach, a discredited justification for tension-stoking adventurism—an approach that reveals the continuation of the West's repeated misreading of regional realities and of the path to resolving the crisis created by the United States and the Zionist regime.
Defense: A Legal Reality or an Exploitation of Words?
The claim that actions such as deploying warships to the region are defensive in nature is made while the very application of the concept of "defense" to countries that are thousands of kilometers away from the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf lacks any credible legal or international backing.
In contrast, the concept of defense and legitimate defense has a clear and undeniable application for a country like Iran, a country whose territorial waters are directly linked to the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz, and where the international community recognizes Iran's right to self-defense, to exercise sovereignty, and to impose legal restrictions in this region.
The noteworthy point is that Western countries, including the United Kingdom and France, now present themselves as claimants of "defense," yet at the same time refuse to accept Iran's lawful and international rights to legitimate defense against the aggressions of the United States and the Zionist regime, a clear contradiction that increasingly exposes the ambiguity surrounding the sincerity of their claims.
These behaviors are a continuation of the same dual and interest-driven approach that yields nothing but the weakening of international law and the creation of dangerous precedents in global affairs, a trajectory that, by swapping the positions of oppressor and oppressed, claimant and accused, paves the way for even greater crises and catastrophes
Maritime Confidence-Building or Creating a Backing for Aggressors?
The British government claims it is not entering a war with Iran, yet it simultaneously uses "commercial and maritime confidence-building" as a pretext for deploying warships to the region, an obvious contradiction that reveals the persistence of dishonesty in its political conduct.
On the one hand, the global public is well aware that the current crisis in the Strait of Hormuz is rooted in the aggression of the United States, the naval blockade, and the crisis-stoking policies of Washington and the Zionist regime, to the extent that even Donald Trump has openly spoken of America's pirate-like policies. Nevertheless, the United Kingdom and its allies have not only taken no critical stance toward American actions but continue merely to repeat unfair positions against Iran.
On the other hand, simultaneously with the ongoing occupation and warmongering of the Zionist regime, the "Campaign Against Arms Trade" in the United Kingdom has announced that the country's Department for Business and Trade has issued new licenses for the export of military equipment to the Zionist regime, an action demonstrating that, despite previous announced restrictions, the process of sending weapons to Tel Aviv continues.
London's contradictory and brazen behavior has gone so far that instead of condemning the crimes of the Zionist regime, including recent approvals regarding the occupation of the West Bank and the execution of Palestinian captives, it has once again, by repeating baseless claims, raised the issue of imposing new sanctions on Iran, an approach echoed by some Western allies, including Australia.
There is no doubt that genuine confidence-building has clear components: honesty, adherence to the law, upholding the truth, and confronting violators of international law are the fundamental pillars of any real confidence-building effort.
Yet the behavior of these claimant countries is in complete opposition to these principles, because on one hand they ignore Iran's lawful and international rights, and on the other hand they continue to support the United States and the Zionist regime as the main agents of the crisis.
Strait of Hormuz: The Only Remaining Path Back to Reality
Leaders of some Western countries, including the United Kingdom and France and the person of Keir Starmer, the British Prime Minister, are trying to hide their failures and shortcomings by highlighting the issue of passage through the Strait of Hormuz and displaying a kind of political power projection in the form of consensus-building. By using words such as "defense" and "confidence-building," they seek to legitimize their tension-stoking actions, while their behavioral duality, their lack of commitment regarding the crimes of the Zionist regime, and their disregard for Iran's legitimate rights have already exposed the emptiness of these claims.
The undeniable reality is that since the Ramadan War, the equations of the region and the world have undergone a fundamental transformation, and the era of policies based on pressure, threats, wordplay to justify militarism, and disregard for the rights of nations has come to an end. Iran, relying on resistance and the redefinition of the regional order, has presented the world with a new model of balance and authority.
Today, respect for Iran's rights and standing, genuine confrontation with the crisis-stoking agents, namely the United States and the Zionist regime, and acceptance of Iran's sovereign right over the Strait of Hormuz are the only ways to remove obstacles and restore stability to this strategic waterway. It is self-evident that any provocative action will be met with the decisive response of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and will have no outcome for the adventurers but defeat, disgrace, and the imposition of heavy costs.
NOURNEWS