DUBAI, 05 April. - (ANA) - Iran has allowed a French-owned ship through the Strait of Hormuz, a day after Emmanuel Macron mocked Donald Trump and accused the US president of changing his mind “all the time”.

 

The Kribi, a Malta-flagged container ship owned by French logistics company CMA CGM, became the first Western vessel to exit the Persian Gulf since the start of the war with Iran.

 

Tehran has all but shut the strait since the start of the conflict, while letting through some ships from countries such as China, Pakistan and the Philippines.

 

Tracking data showed the Kribi sailing close to Iran’s coastline via a route that appeared to have been approved by Tehran. It is unclear whether the vessel paid a fee.

 

Iran is believed to be running what shipping analysts have called a “toll booth”, charging vessels up to $2m (£1.51m) to pass through the choke point, through which about a fifth of the world’s oil normally transits.

 

The French crossing came hours after Mr Macron launched his sharpest attack yet on Mr Trump after his American counterpart had taunted him over a viral video showing Brigitte Macron shoving him in the face last year.

 

Speaking at a White House lunch, Mr Trump said Mr Macron’s wife had treated him “extremely badly” and joked that the French president was “still recovering from the right to the jaw”.

 

Mr Macron hit back on Thursday, saying the remarks were “not elegant, nor up to standard”. He also accused Mr Trump of wildly inconsistent rhetoric over Iran. He warned the US president could not keep “contradicting himself” and “changing his mind all the time”.

 

The French president rejected Washington’s drive for allies to join a military effort to reopen the strait and called such an operation “unrealistic”.

 

“It is not our operation,” he said, pointing out that the US and Israel had launched the war without consulting allies and were now complaining about a lack of support.

 

Mr Trump has said the United States could “easily” reopen the strait to international trade with “a little more time”.

 

In a post on Truth Social, he said: “With a little more time, we can easily OPEN THE HORMUZ STRAIT, TAKE THE OIL, & MAKE A FORTUNE. IT WOULD BE A ‘GUSHER’ FOR THE WORLD???”

 

Mr Macron was once known as the Trump whisperer, with the pair seemingly getting on well, such as when the US president was invited to the reopening of Notre-Dame Cathedral.

 

But his response laid bare the increasingly public rift between Paris and Washington, with Mr Trump lashing out at one of the few Western leaders willing to publicly challenge his handling of the war.

 

Even Mr Macron’s domestic opponents rallied behind him. Manuel Bompard, the coordinator of France Unbowed, said Mr Trump’s comments were “absolutely unacceptable”.

 

Marie Durrieu, a researcher who studies humiliation in international politics, said that Mr Trump was using mockery as a strategic tool to assert dominance.

 

However, he warned that such a tactic often backfired with the humiliated side “turning the tables” to its own advantage.

 

As the row deepened, the war in Iran showed little sign of easing.

 

Iran shot down a US fighter jet for the first time on Friday. Two crew members ejected, reports suggested, triggering a race by both sides to find the stranded American airmen.

 

One of the crew members was rescued in an operation involving two US military helicopters and low-flying refuelling aircraft, and the other had not been found on Friday.

 

The loss of what is suspected to be a prized F-15 fighter aircraft will probably put further pressure on the Trump administration and its execution of the war, while handing the Iranian regime a propaganda gift.

 

Britain, meanwhile, condemned an overnight drone strike on Kuwait’s Mina al-Ahmadi refinery, which provides jet fuel for the UK.

 

Sir Keir Starmer reiterated Britain’s support for Kuwait, while London said earlier this week that it was deploying an air defence system to the country.

 

Kuwait is the UK’s primary supplier of imported jet fuel, providing 4.1 million tonnes – 38 per cent of the country’s imports each year.

 

In Washington, Mr Trump also ramped up his call for a larger war chest, sending Congress a proposal for a $1.5tn defence budget next year, a huge increase driven in part by the cost of the Iran conflict.

 

Meanwhile, diplomatic pressure is also growing. Pope Leo XIV spoke on Friday with Isaac Herzog, Israel’s president, and separately with Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, urging peace in the Middle East, the protection of civilians and the reopening of diplomatic channels.

 

Britain convened talks with around 40 countries on reopening the Strait of Hormuz, with France, Germany, Canada, the United Arab Emirates, and India among those taking part.

 

The UK-led discussions are focusing on diplomatic and economic pressure to force Iran to restore free passage, with military planners expected to meet next week to examine options including mine-clearing and a naval reassurance force.

 

Mr Zelensky said on Friday that Ukraine was ready to help unblock the strait, pointing to Kyiv’s success in restoring shipping routes in the Black Sea after Russia’s blockade. He said reopening the water corridor would require drone interceptors, military convoys and electronic warfare.

 

“We stand ready to help with this,” he said.

 

Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran’s former foreign minister, has proposed a wider bargain, suggesting Tehran could place limits on its nuclear programme and reopen the strait in exchange for the lifting of sanctions.

 

While the proposal appears far from official policy in Tehran, it is one of the clearest signs yet that elements of the Iranian establishment are looking for a way out.   - (ANA) -

 

AB/ANA/05 April 2026 - - -