Italy sending minesweepers closer to Gulf region

ROME, Italy (AFP, REUTERS) -- Italy said Wednesday it was sending two warships closer to the Gulf but would only deploy them as part of an international mission in case of a lasting truce in the region.

Speaking to parliament, Defense Minister Guido Crosetto also said that a possible mission to the Strait of Hormuz could only happen with prior approval from lawmakers.

Iran has effectively blockaded the Strait, through which around a fifth of global oil supplies used to transit, since it came under attack from the United States and Israel in February.

The confrontation has wrought economic havoc around the world, pushing up oil and fertilizer prices and disrupting global supply chains.

The US has also accused Iran of laying mines in the Strait.

Crosetto said that the pre-condition for any deployment would be not the ceasefire currently in place “but a real, credible and stable truce or, even better, a definitive peace.”

He said it would take weeks for the minesweepers to reach the region and Italy was therefore “pre-positioning” them, initially to the eastern Mediterranean and then the Red Sea.

“Solely as a precaution... we are arranging for two minehunter units to be positioned relatively closer to the Strait,” Crosetto said.

Britain and France have led talks on a potential naval effort in the region to assist global shipping.

Both countries have said they are “pre-positioning” warships nearby.

Negotiations between the US and Iran to end the Middle East war and re-open the crucial waterway appear to have stalled.

Safeguarding Hormuz

Meanwhile, South Korea is reviewing a phased contribution to efforts to ensure safe navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back said on Wednesday, signaling support steps short of military participation.

Ahn told a press conference with South Korean reporters in Washington that he had conveyed Seoul’s position at a meeting with US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on Monday.

“We said at about this level that, fundamentally, we will participate as a responsible member of the international community and that we will review ways to contribute in a phased manner,” Ahn said in comments confirmed by Seoul’s ministry.

Ahn said possible forms of phased support could include expressions of political support, personnel dispatches, information-sharing and the provision of military assets, while stressing that no detailed discussions had taken place on expanding South Korean troop involvement.

“There was no deep discussion on something like specifically expanding our military’s participation,” he said, adding that any decisions would need to follow domestic legal procedures.

Wi Sung-lac, South Korea’s presidential national security adviser, said at a roundtable with reporters on Wednesday that Seoul is reviewing whether to join the US-led Maritime Freedom Construct to help safeguard the Strait of Hormuz.