The Daily Populous Thursday April 23rd, 2026 night edition
Authored by oilprice.com and submitted by i_like_cake_96

The UK will host on Wednesday and Thursday a two-day multinational conference convening military planners from more than 30 countries as Britain and France renew efforts to re-open the Strait of Hormuz.

The two-day conference takes place just after U.S. President Donald Trump late on Tuesday extended the U.S.-Iran ceasefire until negotiations with Iran conclude “one way or the other.” President Trump has also ordered that the U.S. blockade at the Strait of Hormuz remains in place.

Hopes of U.S.-Iran negotiations resuming as early as Wednesday were dashed after reports emerged that the trip of U.S. Vice President JD Vance to Pakistan, which hosted the previous round of failed talks, has been put on hold.

As of early Wednesday, there were no signs that the talks could resume soon.

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The U.S. is keeping the naval blockade outside the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has called a “siege” and a violation of the ceasefire.

The UK, which early this month hosted the first such meeting, said that this week’s conference is part of the UK and French leadership of a multinational coalition to reopen the Strait.

“The sessions will advance military plans to reopen the Strait, as soon as conditions permit, following a sustainable ceasefire agreement,” the UK government said in a statement.

“The task, today and tomorrow, is to translate the diplomatic consensus into a joint plan to safeguard freedom of navigation in the Strait and support a lasting ceasefire,” UK Defence Secretary John Healey said ahead of the conference.

“International trade, energy security and the stability of the global economy depend on freedom of navigation,” the UK official added.

“By building on our common purpose, strengthening multinational coordination and planning for effective collective action, we can help reopen the Strait, stabilise the global economy and protect our people.”

lhommetrouble on April 22nd, 2026 at 16:27 UTC »

One French military vessel at the bottom of the strait is all it will take for this to completely fall apart

Jodid0 on April 22nd, 2026 at 16:07 UTC »

This is some next level flip flopping. Like they had every reason not to get involved, they said they weren't going to get involved in the conflict and shouldn't have to pay for the sins of Israel and the US, and now they're just going to forget all of that and do this half assed bullshit anyways? This is why they have a reputation of being weak, especially after being baby shit soft on Russia and rearmament.

Every time the rubber has to meet the road, and Europeans have to put up with any amount of inconvenience to back up their sensationalist rhetoric, they cave immediately. It's a pathetic look. At this point I wouldn't be surprised if they let Ukraine fall just so they can go slithering back to Russia for cheap energy.

Bullboah on April 22nd, 2026 at 14:13 UTC »

I’m genuinely confused by the point of this. It’s a military coalition to open the strait but only after Iran agrees to a ceasefire and opens the strait.

To me, this makes European forces look far weaker than just not doing anything at all. It’s obviously a move for optics but the optics seem bad.