Hormuz Strait should be reopened without tolls or restrictions, stresses Italian premier

The Hormuz Strait should be reopened without any tolls or restrictions, said Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Saturday.

Speaking at the Europe-Gulf Forum at Greece’s southern resort of Costa Navarino, Meloni said Italy is convinced that a sustainable solution to the ongoing crisis in the strait should be based on some essential points.

“The first is the reopening of the Hormuz Strait, without tolls or discriminatory restrictions, because the prosperity of not only the Mediterranean and the Gulf but of the entire world depends on freedom of navigation,” she said.

Meloni added: “Italy is ready to do its part to contribute, as soon as the conditions are right, to the safety of navigation, building on what has already been done in the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean with the (European Union’s) Aspides and Atalanta missions.”

She also maintained that Iran cannot be allowed to acquire nuclear weapons and, hence, threaten its neighbors.