Several European Union diplomats are worried that their countries will get stuck with a hefty bill after the U.S. reached a ceasefire deal with Iran.
There are growing concerns over the high cost of escorting ships and clearing mines in the Hormuz Strait, and the prospect that commercial vessels could be hit with new, sizable transit fees that didn’t exist before the war, according to Politico.
"It’s a pattern," Nacho Sanchez Amor, a Spanish lawmaker who sits on the European Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs, told Politico. "In Gaza, we will pay for reconstruction.
"In Ukraine, we’re paying for the war — basically alone at this point."
"Now we might have to pay to clear the Strait of Hormuz," Sanchez said.
"NATO is meant to be based on reciprocal loyalty, but this is not how it’s working," he added.
Trump on Tuesday announced that the U.S. had reached a two-week ceasefire agreement with Iran.
He said the deal was subject to Iran opening the Strait of Hormuz — adding that "almost all of the various points of past contention have been agreed to between the United States and Iran," but that the ceasefire period "will allow the agreement to be finalized and consummated."
Iran is demanding the right to collect tolls in the Strait of Hormuz as a precondition for reopening the waterway vital to world oil supplies.
Opening the strait would save the global economy from supply constraints that have pushed energy and fertilizer prices sharply higher since the war began on Feb. 28.
But agreeing to Iranian toll-collecting would cement the Islamic Republic's control over the strait through which 20% of the world's oil is shipped — and enrich the military against whom the war was launched.
The White House said Wednesday Trump is opposed to tolls, and analysts say the Gulf's oil producers are, too.
"The key thing is that this ceasefire has to hold," said an EU diplomat with knowledge of the discussions who spoke to Politico.
The pledge from France, Germany, the U.K., and others to clear the strait is "not a blank check," the diplomat said.
"We stand ready to help — under the right conditions," he said.
A French government spokesperson told Politico they were "cautious" about gas prices lowering following a ceasefire.
"We’ve already heard announcements about price decreases that don’t get passed on [to consumers]," the person said.
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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