Markets 
France’s aircraft carrier strike group is moving south of the Suez Canal and into the Red Sea in preparation for a potential French-British mission in the Strait of Hormuz, French President Emmanuel Macron said.
The deployment puts Europe’s most powerful warship closer to the strait. The defensive effort is distinct from the US “Project Freedom” that was paused by President Donald Trump on Tuesday evening.
The repositioning of the nuclear-powered Charles de Gaulle and its escorts comes as part of a proposed mission championed by France and Britain to restore maritime security in the Strait of Hormuz as soon as conditions allow.
It “may help restore confidence among shipowners and insurers”, Macron said on X. “It remains distinct from the parties at war.”
Macron, who spoke with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Wednesday, said he also intends to raise the matter with Trump.
“A return to calm in the Strait will help advance negotiations on nuclear issues, ballistic matters, and the regional situation,” Macron wrote. “Europeans … will play their part.”
Colonel Guillaume Vernet, spokesperson for the French armed forces chief of staff, stressed that the 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 told The Associated Press, any operation would require the agreement of neighbouring countries. That would include Iran, which borders the strait and effectively closed it by attacking and threatening ships after the war began.
AP
Read the full article here
