The leaders of France and the U.K. will gather dozens of countries — but not the United States — on Friday (April 17, 2026) to push forward plans to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a key oil route choked off by the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.

The Paris meeting is part of attempts by sidelined nations to ease the impact of a conflict they didn’t start and haven’t joined, but that has sent the global economy reeling. After the war started on Feb. 28, Iran effectively shut the narrow strait through which a fifth of the world’s oil usually passes.