European and Asian partners will prepare a defensive naval escort mission to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, allowing oil and gas tankers and container ships to resume transit and easing pressure on global energy shipments. On 28 February, Emmanuel Macron announced the decision while in chypre.
Emmanuel Macron: French force levels and operational zone
Macron said France is mobilizing a significant naval presence, naming a deployment that includes “eight frégates” and “two porte-hélicoptères amphibies” to operate across the eastern Mediterranean, the Red Sea and the Strait of Hormuz. That force is meant to create a defensive posture to enable the eventual escort of container ships and tankers through the waterway.
Chypre and Paphos: attack, regional alarm and allied responses
Macron visited the military airport at Paphos after a drone struck the site shortly following the start of the offensive on Iran on 28 February, and he framed the visit as defense of European territory. He said, in effect, that when Chypre is attacked it is Europe that is attacked, and Greece’s prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis described the planned operations as strictly defensive; France, Italy and Spain have each sent a frigate into the area.
Charles de Gaulle: carrier repositioned and EU contributions
The president ordered the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle to move into the eastern Mediterranean, where it is now positioned off Crete, to provide command and coordination and to enable potential repatriation operations. Macron also announced France will contribute two frigates to the EU operation Aspides in the Red Sea, a commitment he said would be maintained “dans la durée. “
If the intensity of the conflict falls, escorts of tankers and container ships will begin once conditions permit; that drop in intensity is the explicit trigger named for starting the escort operations.
