Secretary of State Marco Rubio has approved the creation of a “Maritime Freedom Construct” (MFC) to assemble an international coalition aimed at restoring freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, according to a State Department cable seen by Reuters and dated April 28.
The cable, distributed to US embassies, describes the MFC as a joint State Department-Pentagon initiative and “a critical first step in the establishment of a post-conflict maritime security architecture for the Middle East.” The State Department component would serve as the diplomatic hub linking partner countries with the shipping industry, while the Pentagon arm — operating from CENTCOM headquarters in Florida — would coordinate real-time vessel traffic and communicate directly with ships transiting the Strait.
US embassies were instructed to deliver the demarche orally to partner governments by May 1, but to exclude Russia, China, Belarus, Cuba and “other US adversaries.” The cable says participation could take the form of diplomacy, information sharing, sanctions enforcement, naval presence or other support, and that the framework is distinct from the Trump administration’s “Maximum Pressure” sanctions campaign.
The initiative responds to the deadlock that has paralysed Hormuz traffic since the US and Israel struck Iran on February 28 and Tehran blockaded the waterway, which previously carried roughly one-fifth of global oil and gas. Brent prices have surged past $120 a barrel on fears of a prolonged disruption, and the United States has separately imposed a naval blockade on Iranian ports to squeeze Iran’s oil exports.
The story was first reported by the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday.
Source: Daily Mirror.
