Europe hesitates on US-led Hormuz naval mission

The United States has spent months trying to build an international naval coalition to escort vessels through the Strait of Hormuz, but European allies, including the UK and France, are reluctant to commit. Analysts say European governments fear being drawn into a conflict they neither initiated nor support, especially without clear backing from Gulf partners. The effort appears stalled despite earlier promises, with any European mission likely to be limited, conditional, and purely defensive.