French carrier group moves south of Suez ahead of conditional UK-French Hormuz mission

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PARIS (AP) — France’s aircraft carrier strike group is moving south of the Suez Canal and into the Red Sea in preparation for a potential future mission as part of a French-British plan for the Strait of Hormuz, the French armed forces said Wednesday.

The southward repositioning of the nuclear-powered Charles de Gaulle and its escorts is the latest stage of a Middle East deployment first announced by French President Emmanuel Macron in a televised address on March 3, the day before Iran closed the strait.

The move south of Suez puts France’s only carrier closer to the Persian Gulf chokepoint where a fifth of the world’s oil normally transits and where Iran has effectively halted commercial traffic since early March.

“Going south of Suez is new for us,” Col. Guillaume Vernet, spokesman for the French armed forces chief of staff, told The Associated Press. “Geographically, it’s closer to the Strait of Hormuz and will therefore enable us to react faster, once the conditions are met.”

But Vernet stressed that the wider Hormuz coalition — drawn up by France, Britain and more than 50 nations — will not begin operating until two thresholds are cleared: The threat to shipping must come down, and the maritime industry must be reassured enough to use the strait. Even then, he said, any operation would require the agreement of neighboring countries.

“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 said.

The French operation is distinct from “Project Freedom,” the U.S. escort mission launched Sunday, which has already drawn Iranian fire and threats to the April 8 ceasefire. “It’s a mission that is distinct from the U.S. mission,” Vernet said, calling the French-British plan defensive and consistent with international law.

Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer hosted more than 50 countries at a Paris summit on April 16, and military planners from over 30 nations finalized operational details at a UK-hosted conference April 22-23. “Planning has been done and is ready to go,” Vernet said.

Iran shut the strait on March 4 after joint U.S. and Israeli strikes that began Feb. 28 killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. War-risk insurance premiums have since risen four to five times above preconflict levels, according to industry estimates, and around 2,000 ships remain stranded in the Gulf.

The Charles de Gaulle was ordered from the Baltic on March 3 as part of what France called an “unprecedented” mobilization that also includes eight frigates and two Mistral-class amphibious assault ships. The carrier’s southward move puts French air assets within range of the strait without entering the Gulf, where the U.S. Navy has been blockading Iranian ports since April 13.

France also operates an airbase at Al Dhafra in the United Arab Emirates under a long-standing defense pact with Abu Dhabi, and French Rafale fighters based there have been intercepting Iranian drones and missiles over the UAE since the war began Feb. 28.

Vernet didn’t specify a date for the French-British operation, saying the carrier was being positioned to be close enough to act if and when the conditions are met.