France moves aircraft carrier to Red Sea for potential Hormuz mission

PARIS — France on Wednesday deployed its carrier strike group to the Red Sea as part of planning for a potential mission to secure the Strait of Hormuz and restore navigation. France and Britain have been working on a proposal for several weeks that aims to lay the groundwork for safe transit through the Strait once the situation stabilizes or the conflict is resolved. It would need coordination with Iran and a dozen countries have indicated a willingness to take part in the mission following several preparatory meetings. France urged Washington ‌and Tehran to consider the proposal given the global economic impact of their competing blockades. Fresh exchanges of fire on Monday underscored the stakes as the US and Iran wrestle for control of the narrow waterway, a vital artery for global energy and trade, shaking a fragile four-week-old ceasefire and reinforcing rival maritime blockades. Aircraft carrier the Charles de Gaulle, the flagship of the French Navy, and its escorts were transiting the Suez Canal on Wednesday en route to the southern Red Sea, the French defense ministry said. President Emmanuel Macron’s office said the move was intended to send “a signal that not only are we ready to secure the Strait of Hormuz but that we are also capable of doing so.” “The reason why we must make a renewed effort today is simply that the blockade of Hormuz continues, the damage to the world’s economy is therefore becoming more and more pronounced, and the risk of a prolongation of hostilities is too serious for ⁠us to accept it,” a French presidency official told reporters in a briefing after the army announced the strike group’s deployment. Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who are leading the multinational mission, emphasized that the force would be entirely defensive and only deployed once lasting peace in the region was agreed. “The movement of the carrier strike group is separate from the military operations initiated in the region and complements the security posture,” the defense ministry said. Its presence near the Gulf will allow “an early assessment of the regional operational environment ahead of the possible launch of the initiative” and “offer additional crisis exit options to strengthen the security of the region,” the ministry added. The strike group carries around twenty Rafale fighter jets and is escorted by several frigates. It set sail from the southeastern French port city of Toulon in January for a deployment to the North Atlantic. But in early March, it was redirected to the eastern Mediterranean to defend French interests and allied countries struck by Iran’s retaliation for Israeli-American attacks.