France Seeks New Middle East Trade Routes Amid Hormuz Crisis

France and Oman Forge New Economic Ties at Élysée Palace

French President Emmanuel Macron and Oman’s Sultan Haitham bin Tariq met on June 29, 2026, at Paris’s Élysée Palace to formally deepen economic cooperation between the two nations. The high-level encounter marked Sultan Haitham’s first state visit to France since ascending to the throne in 2020 following the death of his cousin, Sultan Qaboos bin Said. During the visit, Macron announced a series of major contracts for French companies, while the sultan stated that his country is opening its doors to all new business partners.

Under the late Sultan Qaboos, who ruled for nearly 50 years, Oman earned a reputation as the Switzerland of the Middle East by maintaining strict international neutrality and balancing relations among regional rivals. That long-standing neutrality now faces severe stress due to the sultanate’s geographic position along the Strait of Hormuz, where territorial waters sit directly across from Iran.

Strait of Hormuz Crisis Threatens Global Maritime Trade

The critical waterway connecting the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman has faced major disruptions since February 28, when US-Israeli strikes on Iran first began. Prior to the conflict, approximately 20 percent of the world’s oil passed through the strait daily free of charge. The Iranian regime now intends to impose a toll, termed a maritime service fee, on vessels traversing the corridor. The United States has repeatedly rejected any such fee, insisting that the passage remains an international waterway.

Both Macron and Sultan Haitham called for free navigation without conditions or restrictions through the strait during their June 29 meeting. The corridor is roughly 30 kilometers wide and divided between Iranian and Omani territorial waters under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. According to France’s ambassador to Oman, Nabil Hajlaoui, circumventing Iranian controls by sailing through the Omani side of the passage is entirely possible because the strait is not Iranian property, as he stated in a Tuesday interview with France 24.

However, regional analysts note that physical boundaries do not fully capture the security challenges. Clément Therme, a research fellow at the International Institute for Iranian Studies, observed that Iran retains significant military capability enabling it to influence security across the entire region. US sources indicate that Iran began laying mines in the strategic waterway in March.

Joint Demining Operations and Future Outlook

To counter ongoing threats to commercial shipping, Paris and Muscat agreed during the state visit to conduct joint demining operations in the Strait of Hormuz. That security pact has faced direct pushback from Tehran.