Trump calls Strait of Hormuz 'something that we don't need'

French President Emmanuel Macron said he’s working with partners to prepare a "purely defensive" mission to reopen the Strait of Hormuz by escorting ships, once the "most intense phase of the conflict" in the Middle East has passed.

France is deploying eight warships, two amphibious helicopter carriers and the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier to the eastern Mediterranean, the Red Sea and off the coast of Hormuz.

Macron said a coalition of partners -- coordinated by and headquartered in Greece -- had already been formed.

“We are in the process of setting up ...a purely defensive, purely escort mission, which must be prepared together with both European and non-European states, and whose purpose is to enable, as soon as possible after the most intense phase of the conflict has ended, the escort of container ships and tankers to gradually reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which is essential to international trade, but also to the circulation of gas and oil which must be able to be transported out of this region again,” Macron said.

Ali Larijani, head of Iran's supreme national security council, said in a post on X on Monday that it's "unlikely any security will be achieved in the Strait of Hormuz amid the fires of war ignited by the United States and Israel."

Larijani also implied that France has been supporting the war and "contributing to fanning it."

-ABC News’ Tom Soufi Burridge

At an event honoring wrongful detainees and hostages, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Monday that Iran’s retaliation laid bare the threat it poses to countries near and far.

"They are trying to hold the world hostage. They are attacking their neighbors. They are attacking neighboring countries, their energy infrastructure, their civilian population, they're attacking embassies,” he said. "This is a terrorist government. This is a terroristic regime.”

He also offered a moment of silence for the seven killed Americans.

“We all are all in awe of their service, of their bravery, of their courage, and our hearts and our support extend out to their families in this very difficult moment, and the families of these incredible heroes,” he said.

-ABC News’ Shannon Kingston

President Donald Trump told Fox News’s Brian Kilmeade on Sunday that ships holding at the Strait of Hormuz need to “show some guts” and push through the channel.

“There's nothing to be afraid of, they have no Navy, we sunk all their ships… and all but 20% of their launchers," Trump said.

The Strait of Hormuz is the critical maritime passageway between Iran, Oman and the UAE through which about one-fifth of the world’s oil passes.

Trump also told Kilmeade he was “not happy” with the selection of Ali Khamenei’s son Mojtaba Khamenei as the new supreme leader of Iran.

-ABC News’ Nicholas Kerr

The seventh service member to die from Iranian attacks has been identified by the Defense Department as Sgt. Benjamin N. Pennington, 26, of Glendale, Kentucky.

Pennington was wounded on March 1 when his base in Saudi Arabia was attacked. He died from his injuries on Sunday, the Defense Department said.

Pennington was at a strategic radar site that’s part of the early warning systems for missile defense, according to a source familiar with the situation.

Vice President JD Vance said Pennington’s body will return to the U.S. Monday night.