France has deployed its sole, nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to the Middle East as part of a joint effort with the UK and Europe to ensure safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz, military officials said Wednesday.
The French Armed Forces ministry said the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier, along with its strike group escort, had crossed the Suez Canal and was en route to the Red Sea.
The carrier is expected to enforce safe travel through the Strait of Hormuz once a US-Iranian peace deal is secured and Tehran agrees to open the waterway, which has remained shut since the war began.
“Geographically, it’s closer to the Strait of Hormuz and will therefore enable us to react faster, once the conditions are met,” Col. Guillaume Vernet, spokesman for the French armed forces chief of staff, said of the Charles de Gaulle carrier.
The Charles de Gaulle, launched in 1994, carries about 40 aircraft and helicopters on board with a crew of nearly 2,000.
The aircraft carrier is sailing with eight warships and two amphibious assault ships, and its deployment in the Red Sea allows its assets to be within range of the Strait of Hormuz without entering the contested waters.
Vernet stressed that the Gaulle’s deployment is part of a multinational mission separate from President Trump’s “Project Freedom,” which saw US forces escort two ships out of the Strait of Hormuz before being put on pause Wednesday.
Vernet warned that attempts to cross the Strait of Hormuz will likely fail without Iran’s cooperation, as seen by Tehran’s repeated attacks on foreign vessels that tried to cross the strait earlier this week.
“Today the Strait of Hormuz is stuck because of the threat and the insurance premiums are so high. Not a single ship will jeopardize their trip or go there,” he added.
The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has sown chaos in global energy markets, with French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer bringing together a coalition of more than 40 nations last month to address the issue.
The coalition, however, has shied away from entering the war against Iran, with Starmer vowing to keep England out of another long-term conflict in the Middle East.
With Post wires
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