France on Wednesday moved its Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier from the Mediterranean to the Red Sea in a bid to show the US and Iran it was willing to help solve the Hormuz crisis.
This signals France hopes to accelerate the possible deployment of an international coalition of more than 40 nations that could intervene following the US failure to reopen the strait by force.
With new talks on a UN Security Council resolution under way and the pressure from its closure by Iran on world oil markets weighing on the global economy, there is a sense of urgency to finding a solution to reopen it, an adviser to French President Emmanuel Macron said.
Mr Macron has suggested to US President Donald Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian that the US lift its blockade of Iranian ports if Iran fulfils its promise to engage in meaningful negotiations with the Americans, including on its nuclear programme. Iran would have to commit to stop firing at merchant ships.
Once there is “clarity” on the situation in Hormuz, a defensive naval operation that has been in preparation for weeks could be launched, the adviser said. The strait would reopen while the US and Iran hold talks on other issues.
“The risk of a prolongation of hostilities is too serious for us to accept,” the adviser said. “Our objective is simple: to set aside and address the Hormuz issue separately, in order to immediately send the signal that negotiation is possible on the remaining issues without jeopardising the global economy.”
The adviser was speaking shortly after the Defence Ministry announced France was moving its aircraft carrier to “reduce the implementation time” of the international naval operation. The move remains strictly defensive and “separate from the military operations initiated in the region”, the ministry said.
Readiness signal
The aircraft carrier “will be joined by ships from a number of partners already deployed with us in the Eastern Mediterranean,” the adviser to Mr Macron said. “Through this adaptation of our posture, we collectively want to send the signal that not only are we ready to secure the Strait of Hormuz, but we are also capable of doing so.”
The French offer was described as a continuation of the initiative launched on April 17 in Paris for a defensive naval operation in the presence of French, British, German and Italian leaders. But it has been accelerated in view of the failure US operation Project Freedom - a US military escort of merchant ships.
It was suspended on Tuesday by Mr Trump after just one day – around the same time as a French-owned CMA CGM ship was attacked and its crew members wounded. The attack has been attributed by US sources quoted by broadcaster CBS News to an Iranian cruise missile. Tehran has not confirmed this.
The US has also pushed a resolution at the UN Security Council drafted with Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait and Qatar, which, if it were to pass, could lead to sanctions against Iran and potentially authorise force if Tehran fails to halt attacks and threats to commercial shipping.
“This is the first tangible evidence of increased European involvement. We will see the reaction of the United States and its allies on the ground,” said Antony Dabila, a defence specialist at Science Po University's political research centre (Cevipof).
“It seem to be a way of signalling the credibility of French resources to Iran while maintaining the same diplomatic position – an intervention still conditional on the end of the fighting,” said Jean-Loup Samaan, senior research fellow at the Middle East Institute of the National University of Singapore.
On Wednesday, Mr Trump threatened to bomb Iran again if it does not reopen the strait, one day after Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the offensive part of the war was over. These apparently contradictory statements have caused alarm in Europe and given an impression that Washington is working on a “trial and error basis”, Mr Dabila told The National.
Mr Macron said on Tuesday he did not understand what Mr Trump's Operation Freedom was. “I don't know what this initiative is,” he said. “If the United States want to reopen, is ready to reopen Hormuz, that's great. That's what we've been asking for from the start. But we're not going to participate in any forceful operation whatsoever, in a context that, for my part, doesn't seem clear to me.”
Following the attack on the CMA CGM San Antonio in the strait, Mr Macron said French interests had not been targeted. “The CMA CGM vessel was not flying the French flag but the Maltese flag, with a Filipino crew to whom we express our solidarity,” government spokeswoman Maud Bregeon said. “As things stand, France was not targeted. The President made a point of saying it in those exact words during [a] cabinet meeting.”
The incident was the worst involving the Marseille-headquartered CMA CGM since the US and Israel launched attacks against Iran on February 28 and Tehran's ensuing blockage of the strait.
Warning shots were fired on April 20 at another CMA CGM ship trying to cross the strait, forcing it to turn back. On May 5, another CMA CGM ship was hit but crew members were not injured.
France has not directly participated in the war but has lost three soldiers in escalations in Lebanon and Iraq. It sent fighter jets and air defence systems to help Gulf allies defend themselves against Iranian attacks.
Mr Trump has previously expressed frustration at Europe's refusal to get involved and criticised Nato as a “paper tiger” for not helping in Hormuz, in a jab at Nato's European allies. The US President also announced the withdrawal of 5,000 US troops from Germany after its Chancellor Friedrich Merz said the US was “being humiliated” by Iran.
A negotiated solution involving Chinese mediation looks increasingly likely, in view of Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi's trip to Beijing on Wednesday. “The Iranian side appreciates the four-point proposal put forward by the Chinese side on upholding and promoting regional peace and stability,” Mr Araghchi wrote on X.
Mr Trump is also expected to visit China in a highly anticipated visit next week.
