For a possible defensive mission, France moves an aircraft carrier group toward the Strait of Hormuz.

According to a statement made on Wednesday by French President Emmanuel Macron, France's aircraft carrier strike group is making its way south of the Suez Canal and into the Red Sea in preparation for a possible joint French-British operation in the Strait of Hormuz. The deployment brings Europe's most powerful warship closer to the strait that has become the war in Iran's symbol, stranding hundreds of ships and causing what the International Energy Agency calls the world's largest oil supply disruption.

The defense is different from that of the United States. The project known as "Project Freedom" began on Monday and was put on hold by President Donald Trump on Tuesday evening. As part of a proposed mission backed by France and Britain to restore maritime security in the Strait of Hormuz as soon as conditions permit, the nuclear-powered Charles de Gaulle and its escorts will be repositioned.

Macron stated on X that it "may help restore confidence among shipowners and insurers." "It continues to stand apart from the warring parties." On Wednesday, during his conversation with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, Macron stated that he also plans to bring the matter up with President Trump. Macron wrote, "Negotiations on nuclear, ballistic, and regional issues will advance if there is a resumption of calm in the Strait." "Europeans... will contribute," Col.

According to Guillaume Vernet, a spokesperson for the chief of staff of the French armed forces, the Hormuz coalition, which is made up of France, Britain, and more than 50 nations, will not begin operations until two conditions are met: the threat to shipping must decrease, and the maritime industry must be sufficiently reassured to use the strait. Even then, he told The Associated Press, any operation would require the agreement of neighboring nations. That would include Iran, which borders the strait and attacked and threatened ships after the U.S. and Israeli attacks on Feb. 28 started the war. Vernet didn't say when the carrier would get there.

“The French position is the same since the beginning — defensive posture, respecting international law,” he stated. The carrier was positioned to be close enough to act if the conditions were met. According to estimates from the industry, war-risk insurance premiums for crossing the strait have increased four to five times more than they were before the conflict. At this point, Vernet stated, "not a single ship will jeopardize their trip or go there." Washington has not been a part of the French-British plan, which has been compared to the European "coalition of the willing" that Macron and Keir Starmer put together to help Ukraine.

In keeping with the customs of the French presidency, a top official spoke on the condition of anonymity, stating, "We want to send the message that not only are we ready to secure the Strait of Hormuz, but that we are also capable of doing so." This statement was made by a French official. Early in the war, France sought a multinational initiative to reestablish freedom of navigation in the strait. The Charles de Gaulle was ordered from the Baltic to the eastern Mediterranean shortly after the war began in what the French presidency described as an “unprecedented” mobilization that also includes eight frigates and two Mistral-class amphibious assault ships. On April 17, Macron and Starmer hosted dozens of nations at a Paris summit, and military planners from more than 30 nations later finalized operational details.

Under a long-standing defense pact with Abu Dhabi that places approximately 900 French personnel on the Gulf's southern shore, French Rafale fighters based at Al Dhafra airbase in the United Arab Emirates have been intercepting Iranian drones and missiles over the Gulf state since the beginning of the war. This article was written by Sylvie Corbet, a writer for the Associated Press in Paris.